The Connections Series
by paranoid woman
Summary: Last Part now up. Amita is kidnapped and while she's not around Charlie and Colby get closer. The agent seems to be the only person who can make Charlie's brain work, and the mathematician becomes Colby's brand new fantasy. Warning: Slash,Charlie/Colby,R
1. Disturbing images

**Title:** Disturbing images.

**Series:** _The Connections_ Series, Part 1/?

**Characters**: Charlie, Colby, Don, Megan, David, Larry, mention of Amita

**Rating:** PG

**Warnings:** This series goes from PG to NC-17, depending on the chapter. Sometimes it doesn't happen gradually, so you are warned. About this chapter, you don't have to cover your eyes if you are very shy.

**Spoilers:** Season 3 and 4

**Summary:** Amita is kidnapped and there are very little clues about where or how she might be.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it. It's just me having fun writing about other people's characters.

_The connections_ Series

**Part 1: "Disturbing images"**

It was one the worst cases the team could have. For everyone, given the circumstances.

It had been three days since Amita was missing. Everybody was working so hard to find her, and it was so useless. Charlie tried with all the equations he could write in the blackboard and in his head, but nothing seemed to be good enough to end the case with a safe victim.

And the fact that she was his girlfriend, the first woman he had been with in years, was heart breaking. He wasn't feeling ok, there were long pauses in his speech when he tried to make a point. This night it was worse: he kept babbling about math theories that had nothing to do with finding Amita, and he knew it. He just hoped something in all that mess of ideas was hiding something he could put to good use.

Of course, everybody was looking at him. At some moment he stopped talking, noticing that his friends had a very concern look in their eyes. Don was the one who got up and put a hand on his shoulder in representation of the rest.

"Charlie, why don't you take a break? You have been working too hard"

"Well, I should be working harder, don't you think? I can't seem to find anything in my head to help Amita!", Charlie, shouted, and suddenly got out the room, dropping the pen he was using to write in a transparent blackboard.

No one followed him. But they saw him enter the break room.

"This must be so hard for him. And the worst part is that there are so little clues", Megan said, taking off her glasses and walking around the room.

"Yeah. We're frustrated we can't find the woman, I can't imagine what it must be like for him to trust the math but not be able to do anything with it", David murmured.

Larry had been quiet during all of Charlie's speech. Now he was very focused on his own fingers, curling with each other.

"What do you have in mind, Larry?", Megan asked, because she knew him so well she was sure he had an idea. Usually Larry's ideas were as good as Charlie's.

"I was just… I have no brilliant ideas right at the moment. My head is turning into an confusing cloud very close to the one that formed in the beginning of our solar system. I'm thinking this state of mind is exactly the same that is making Charles embrace such a primal behavior, like the one we just saw." He made a pause. "Maybe he needs to talk about what he's feeling with someone. I don't have any kind of effect on him right now. I tried to unlock his thoughts with quantum theory, but I didn't seem to work"

Everyone thought that is was ok that Larry was trying to help Charlie to think better, but it didn't seem to be the best idea to do it by talking about physics. At least not in this kind of case.

"Don, may I suggest that you be the one to speak with him?", Larry continued, looking at Charlie's older brother.

"I already tried, like you did. I mean, of course I didn't make any efforts to help him find his way through theories like yours, but yeah, I talked to him. At first, he didn't say anything to me. And when I ended with my 'everything's going to be ok, buddy'- which by the way I didn't believe myself-, he started to yell at me that I should be patronizing him", Don answered.

"He believes all the weight is on his shoulders. That we all, and of course Amita's life, is depending on him", Megan said.

"Well, he has a good point. We have our weapons, our experience in different fields. But let's admit it, much of what we do well is because of his math", David pointed.

"It is probable that Charles is feeling that the only solution to this problem relays on his own capability", Larry said, still playing with his own fingers while he read the equations written in the blackboard. "There is no doubt it is an absurd. But when your mind is blind because of a deep pain -which I have experimented myself when Megan was kidnapped- there are several obvious truths that your brain is able to deny without any question"

"Someone's got to talk to him anyway". Colby had spoken for the first time in several minutes. All the time the others were speaking, he was watching Charlie in the break room sitting at the table with his hands in his face.

"Yeah, I think so too. Megan, why don't you…?", Don started to say, but Megan herself interrupted him with other idea.

"I know I could go and have a talk with him, since I have experience reading other people's feelings and everything, but I don't think it's what he needs right now. To be honest, I am pretty sure that if Colby would be the one to enter that room and start to speak about how he doesn't have to be under so much pressure, he would feel more relieved"

So the decision was taken. No one had to insist Colby to take the lead in this occasion. The agent, without taking his eyes off Charlie, took the pen that laid in one of the desks, got up and went to the break room.

"I would be very happy if I could be left alone for a few minutes, please", Charlie said, but he never took his hand off his face, so he couldn't see who was standing by the door.

"Not even me?". Colby's voice made him wake up. His face tensed a little, but he didn't try to avoid the agent.

"Oh… I didn't know it was you. I'm… sorry", Charlie said, and Colby thought that if he was apologizing for being rude to him, it meant that Megan was right: he was the perfect person to talk to him. It had been a very good idea; after all, he was the one who could make him react in one of the last cases, involving a very important reporter.

"Hey… I know you don't feel comfortable discussing your work in this case, but… I just wanted to say in behalf of everyone that we support everything you're doing", Colby said, and he took a breath. He wanted to say something to comfort his friend. "I can't possibly know what you're feeling. And I can't tell you that everything's going to be ok. I'm not Don, and you know it. Do you remember the talk we had after someone followed you in the middle of the night?" He saw Charlie nod quietly. "Well, this is another truth I want to show you. She's an intelligent woman. And she loves you. I'm sure she's trying to do everything she can to come back to you."

There was this sorrow in Charlie's eyes that made Colby tremble. It was like if the mathematician was going to brake at any second, and was just holding up because he didn't want everyone to see him like this. But this was Colby. Colby, the agent that had become a closer friend after that horrible night when a someone had shot him without success.

"I can't stop having nightmares. About people doing terrible things to her. There are a lot of disturbing images inside my head that I can't forget… but what you said is so true. Yeah… she's probably doing that. Trying to get out of all this mess", Charlie managed to say. "Thank you" He made a pause. "Thank you, Colby. I can't tell your how much this has helped me. I don't know if I could come up with a solution involving my math immediately, but…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. Your heart needs time to recover, to calm down so your mind can take control again."

"But what will happen until my brain starts functioning again? What if it takes endless hours?

"Well, you have us to replace you during that time. We are going to do everything that is in our hands. You don't have to do it all, even if Amita's your girlfriend. You are part of this team too, never forget it."

He put a hand in Charlie's shoulder again, and saw him smile just a little. That's all Colby needed: to see he could help someone else, to bring a little hope to his friend's heart.

"Maybe I could get to work again. Just random equations. See if something makes sense and can be applied to the kidnap", Charlie suggested.

"Of course." Colby said, and showed he still had the pen that the mathematician had been using in his hand. He pass it to Charlie, their fingers brushing lightly in that beautiful gesture. "Just don't put too much pressure on you, ok?"

"Sure… I'll try not to"

"Do you think you will be ok?"

"Yeah"

"Well, if you need to talk again about this kind of stuff… here I am."

"I know. Thank you"

Charlie saw Colby get back with the others and tell them that he was going to be all right. And when he looked at the pen in his hands, still warm because of the agent's skin, he knew that he couldn't get this kind of understanding anywhere else.

_A/N: This is a series that I came up with this morning. I don't know how many chapters I will post, or how often, it depends on the responses I get. Comments and critics are equally welcome, as long as you don't throw stones at me. Now, seriously, I really hope you enjoy it, because I am a big fan of Numb3rs. Please forgive my English if it's not too good. Just for the record, I'm from Latin America._


	2. That sad smile

**Title:** That sad smile

**Series:** _The Connections_ Series, part 2

**Characters:** Charlie/Colby

**Rating:** M

**Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4

**Summary:** Charlie forgets about Amita for three entire minutes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.

_The Connections _Series

**Part 2: "That sad smile"**

"Ok, what do we've got?" Don asked, as he walked into the room, looking very serious.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing". Charlie's voice sounded so desperate and angry that everybody thought he was going to start to yell again, exactly like the day before, because he couldn't find the key to the problem.

The team had been searching for new data in three locations, three motels where the few available clues have led them. They weren't successful about finding Amita, but they got some direction. They have analyzed the three motel rooms from roof to floor. David found a little corner of one wall that had some symbols written on it. Amita had probably been handcuffed in that exact place.

Of course, Charlie, who was present, studied them and tried to figure out the hidden meaning. But even as he had been trying to clear his head and think better, it was still impossible for him to be 100 sure of his own theories. Why did this have to happen now, when his lover's life was in such danger?

So when he stormed out of the motel, because he just wanted to be by himself, and went to Don's car, he didn't care if he couldn't drive. Thank god someone stopped him from getting into the driver's seat and took that place himself.

"I don't want you to kill yourself because of this situation. We have enough already with the case", Colby said, starting the engine.

Charlie was glad he was there. He was about to break again. He needed someone he could trust enough to tell him some things that were in his mind; and Colby always seemed the right person, the perfect companion. So he sat in the passenger's seat and said: "Well, since I'm not being of any help, maybe it wouldn't mind if I wouldn't be here".

Colby looked at him in shock.

"Please tell me you didn't just say that".

The mathematician remained in silence, looking through his window at something he obviously didn't care about. He regretted he said that his own life didn't matter; he knew it have been very stupid.

"Charlie, are you out of your mind? Amita needs you. We need you. I need you". Charlie turned around at the second. That last line couldn't mean that… no, no. He was just thinking things wrong because he was so frustrated. Colby didn't like guys, and neither did he.

Colby kept talking, and he seemed worried. "Damn it, Charlie, you are a basic part of this group, I already told you that. I don't get why you say such stupid things. Geez, why don't you say anything? I feel like a god damn idiot sitting here talking without getting an honest answer". He saw Charlie was about to say something, but didn't. "What? What, what is it? You can tell me. You know you can".

"I've never… I've never been through something like this . Except when that journalist case happened. I'm blocked, my mind doesn't want to work, I can't make it work. It's like it doesn't belong to me, like I don't have any control over it. It's so… frustrating".

"Charlie…" Colby put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I know I have your help, that you're doing your best, as well as the entire team. But that puzzle, that symbols, those are Amita's message. A message that only I can understand. A message to me. If I don't figure it out, she's gone, you know? And I'm not capable of reading what she's trying to tell me, even if it's a matter of life or death"

There was a moment of silence. Colby started to drive; the road was empty because the motel they were in was outside town. Charlie thought in what he had promised to the agent: to not put so much pressure on his own shoulders.

"I'm sorry", he said, with one hand in his face. "I know I said I wouldn't feel so responsible. But I can't help it. If I knew how to stop feeling so useless, maybe my head would get to normal again".

"Hey, don't worry", Colby answered. "It's ok. Just don't say that you want to die. Ever. It makes me want to kill you myself".

That comment made Charlie smiled a little. It have sounded like something Don would have said. But his brother wasn't so warm, so cool, so understanding. Don was an amazing support… but Colby was different. Colby was what he needed every time he was down.

"I think I can do that", he finally said. Silence again. "You know, I always wanted to take Amita to the road. Just the two of us".

"Well, where were you going to go?"

"I don't know. Make a tour that joins different points of the country, like science museums and important colleges that presented math lectures. Nothing related to golf or anything like that, because I suck at it and I don't want her to see me like that, it's too embarrassing. We should go to places where we could find interesting theories to add to our very own ones. But I have this idea… that it would be nice that the points of the trip, marked in a map, could be joined to form a Pi symbol. It came to me in a dream"

Colby thought about for a moment. "It would be great"

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's just that… I never told her about the trip dream. It scares me what she might think about the Pi part "

"Why? You both like math. You both would find it more than fascinating"

"Fascinating, yeah. But obsessive and exaggerated and a little bit creepy, definitely. As much as I love and respect Larry, I don't want to become his future clone".

"Ouch! That hurt. But I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do. Colby?"

"Yeah, Charlie?"

"Please warn me if I start eating only white food. I beg you to do that"

"You don't have to. I would warn everyone that develops that habit. But I guess Larry's a lost cause"

Now they both laughed. Charlie thought he hasn't had a good time like this, just talking about stuff, since Amita has disappeared. It was so relaxing to feel a little more free. He watched Colby drive very conscience of every movement of the car, his eyes on the road. He was concentrated, but he had a smile on his face.

"Well, I'll tell you this", the agent said, and Charlie turned his head to the road. He didn't wanted Colby to think he was watching him like he had something in his face, or was too attractive to resist. But wait. Why would Colby think he founded him attractive? Charlie hoped his brain could stop making so weird assumptions very soon.

"If I was Amita, and don't take this as an awkward comment", Colby said, "I would go to that trip with you, no matter what shape the joined points formed. I would go just to spend days alone with you. Maybe you should tell her about it when she comes back."

"Maybe", Charlie muttered, considering the idea.

"Just don't drive. Let her do it, or by bus tickets, or anything. But don't put your hands on anything that has wheels, 'cause I won't be there to save the two of you".

Charlie laughed again, and heard Colby laughing too. He felt so relieved.

"I will take that as an advice"

"It was and advice"

"If it wasn't for the teasing tone of your voice, it would have seemed to be a very cruel critic"

"But a true one"

"Yeah. And I hate that"

Then there was silence for the third time. Both of them became more serious, just feeling the wind in their faces and the calm of Mother Nature.

"I think I will ask her to spend five days with me in the Dr. Eppes Nacional Trip or something like that…", Charlie said, imagining what it would be like. But then reality got to his heart again. "… if she actually comes back"

"She'll be with you again, Charlie. And she'll be fine. I'm sure of that"

Again, Charlie felt Colby's hand, now on his arm. His fingers were lovingly twisting the fabric of his brown jacket. He was the best person ever. The only person that could truly make him feel better even when everything that surrounded him was chaos and violence and pain.

He felt guilty, because when he was with Colby, he could easily forget about Amita. And it wasn't fair that not all of his thoughts were dedicated to her right now. It hurt to know that there was someone else in his life that was special.

Now Charlie smiled sadly, admitting the irony of his situation. He loved Amita but hasn't thought about her for three entire minutes; and he didn't care so much about Colby two weeks ago, and yet he was so happy just because of his presence and his voice.

He didn't notice that Colby was watching him smile. He didn't know how much he worried about him. How much he cared. How much his heart ached when he saw that sad smile on his face. He couldn't find out, by any means, that in moments like this the agent's feelings for the mathematician were rapidly growing.


	3. An important someone

**Title:** An important someone

**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 3

**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Alan, Don, David, Megan, mention of Amita

**Rating:** M

**Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4

**Summary:** Colby finds himself wishing Charlie felt something intense for him.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.

_The Connections_ Series

**Part 3: "An important someone"**

Alan saw a car parking in front of the Eppes' house. He turned off the lawnmower and tried to smile when he realized that Colby was there.

"Hello, Agent Granger. If you're looking for Don or Charlie, they're in the solarium. But I wouldn't recommend you to go there"

"Why?"

He went to the front door, but stopped when he heard that the brothers were having a fight. He looked at Alan again and said with irony "So, how are things going? I think I should ask before I'm in the middle of a fight between those two"

"That's a smart move, I can tell. In days like these they don't even listen to their own father, but who would blame them?", Alan answered, and made a pause. "This kidnapping is making them both so susceptible about everything. Hey… maybe if you talked to Charlie, they would stop yelling to each other. My ears are going to be dead at any minute, as well as my mouth. But still… I came here to cut the grass so I could find at least five minutes a day to recover and come up with some way to help." He stopped, breathing heavily. "I've been afraid that something could happen to her, after that case"

"The online game case"

"Yeah, that one. She was very close to real danger that time. I talked to Charlie about it once and I could see he was very worried about the risk she was exposed to too. He tried to make her stop helping the FBI, but she's his girlfriend, she's intelligent and willing to help all the time. And now she's been kidnapped, and obviously Charlie thinsk he could have tried harder to convince her to drop this kind of job. He can't think, he can't even work in the P vs. NP problem."

"I know. I'm worried that something like that could happen to him too"

Alan looked at Colby in the eye, and saw how much the agent looked after Charlie.

"You're very considerate, Mr. Eppes. Trying to help your sons like this, being so supportive. Your presence is important for this case to solve because it makes Don and Charlie feel they're not alone"

"So I guess you haven't found the key to those symbols"

"No. We pretty much depend on Charlie right now. Larry tried to solve the puzzle, but he used a code related to the periodic table of the chemical elements, and it didn't work"

"I wonder why"

Colby smiled, but felt that they weren't doing anything well.

"Yeah. But we'll keep trying"

"I know. I just wished Charlie didn't tried so hard to be the hero"

"I've told him that. And he promised me he would try not to. Ok, I'm going in. Wish me luck"

He entered the house without hesitating and headed towards the solarium. Alan hoped he knew how to handle a discussion between the Eppes brothers, because it wouldn't be easy at all.

While he was walking towards the solarium, Colby felt his heart pounding. Since that last trip in the car, he has been very awake, like he could feel how reality really was in all its madness. No one had the right to take Amita from Charlie, they belonged together. She was one of the few people as smart as him that could understand him perfectly. The mathematician's sad smile had made him shiver, and realize that he would be capable of doing anything for him.

And now he was going to help him stop fighting with Don. Keep it cool, Granger. He's really pissed off at his brother and the world right now, and Don isn't exactly helping him to calm down.

So he walked into the solarium and heard them yelling at each other very loudly. They looked as angry as they father had described them. Colby took a breath and said "Hey"

"Hi", the brothers said at unison, and continued arguing like if he wasn't there.

"You have to set your mind at ease, Charlie. I know that you're struggling with the pain you're feeling and trying to make your head work, but we can't waste more time. It's been three days. If we don't find her immediately, god knows what those people might do to her"

"And you don't think I'm aware of that? Do you think I'm playing some game, that I don't realize the magnitude of the danger she's facing right now?"

Charlie's words went right to Colby's heart. They have been very close to the one he had said to him when he couldn't find the key to the journalist's case. He wanted to say something, but Don was talking again.

"Well, it doesn't seem like it. We can't do this without you, and you know it, and yet you're not trying to…!" Don suddenly stopped, and run his fingers through his hair. When he spoke, he apologized for his behavior. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know that you're trying. I know that when things like this happen, it's very difficult to stay focused… and I mean everyone. I shouldn't have raised my voice like that"

Charlie didn't say a word. He stood there, in the middle of the solarium, with the chalk pencil in his hand and one of the many blackboards behind him. He have been writing equations, but obviously still none of them meant anything for the case, and this was what caused his brother to start the fight.

Now Don was looking at Charlie, like he didn't know how to continue. This was a serious issue, and all he was doing was making problems grow.

"I'm sorry, Charlie" he said once again sincerely, and left the room, without even looking at Colby on the way out.

Say something. Say something now. He really needs it.

"I think Don was just trying to help", he finally said.

"Yeah. By putting more pressure on me. Thank you, Don"

"You know what I mean"

There were some seconds of silence. Colby watched Charlie write more equations in the blackboard. When he stood by his side, he could see his cheeks turn red, and his eyes shine with an angry spark.

"I know that it's hard. But… I'm there for you, you know. All the way"

That was the moment when Charlie faced him and flushed even more. Colby felt his heart hummer inside his chest, and waited for an answer.

"I'm going to do this" Charlie said, his eyebrows almost joined in an angry look. "Because if I don't have her, then what? What person do I have in my life that could take her place? I have family, friends, my work, my responsibilities. But I… I don't want to loose the feeling she has made me discover."

"I understand"

"So I'm going to find her. I'm going to figure out the symbols and I'm going to take her home with me. Even if it takes all of my time"

Charlie said those words so fervently, that his energy made Colby's eyes come wide open. Few times he could get to see this side of the mathematician, this passionate focus and incredible direction. He thought that maybe it took him some time to get back on track, but eventually he always did. And when it came to his loved ones, Charlie was the more intense person he knew.

Colby found himself whishing he had someone like that in his life. Someone who cared about him as much as Charlie cared about Amita. He wanted Charlie to look after him. To make that intense energy appear in Don's brother, because of him.

He put his hand in his mouth; he couldn't believe he was thinking about Charlie that way. Colby was aware that his feelings for him were important, but he has never interpreted them as a romantic interest. Until now.

He removed his hand from his mouth, saying to himself that all of these images of Charlie being passionate about another man were only a reflection of his own desire to share his life with someone who truly loved him. He was definitely taking any person he knew and putting him or her in that empty place of his heart, at least for a few minutes.

"I'm glad you're back, Charlie. Do you want me to stay here for a while?", he dared to ask.

Charlie thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm. No, I think it'll be better if I work alone. I hope you don't take it as I don't want to spend time with you, because I do want to" And then the mathematician shut up, like he just said something that was supposed to be a secret. "I mean, you're the one who's made all this possible. You have helped me so much I could never thank you enough"

Now Colby smiled, feeling a little shy. Of course, he didn't know that Charlie was as confused as him. He was in denial. If he couldn't admit what he felt to himself, much less he could see it in Charlie. So he said goodbye to him and went to the office. When he told the team that Charlie was working again, and was determined to bring Amita home, everyone congratulated him.

"You're a very good friend, Colby. I knew you would make him do his thing again", David said, with a smile on his face.

"I knew that you should be the one to make this kind of connection with him", Megan added.

"Connection?", Colby repeated. He hasn't understood her.

"Yeah. A connection that links two souls when they have shared their experiences. That can work miracles in people's behavior sometimes", she clarified.

Most of them went to the rest room, feeling more confident about finding Amita very soon. The last ones to go there were Don and Colby.

"Thank you", Don said, and shook the other agent's hand. "If it wasn't for you, I think there would be nothing we could have done"

"Well, anytime"

"Charlie really likes you. And even as you and me have had some issues in the past, I have to say that I have learned to admit that sometimes I'm wrong. I'm proud of you, Colby."

Now feeling more than happy, Colby couldn't do anything but smile. Everybody seemed to have seen a more than special connection between him and Charlie. Even Don, who was someone he respected so much. And all of this was good enough already, but in the bottom of his heart he had this strange hope, one that he couldn't exactly identify, but that was definitely about Charlie taking a more important role in his life.


	4. Hidden messages

The Connections Series

**Title:** Hidden messages  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 4/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Amita, Larry, Megan, David, Don  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4  
**Summary:** The team brings Amita home but she finds out that Charlie says very suspicious things in the middle of the night.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta, who helped so much with this particular chapter._

_The Connections_ Series

**Part 4: "Hidden messages"**

Larry was just about to knock on the door when Charlie stormed out of the house looking like hell. "Charles?" the physicist asked, because the other man hadn't seen him yet.

The mathematician turned around and took an incredibly deep breath. He had a lot of papers and markers in his hands and was looking for a ride. "I've found it. I've got it all here. I need to tell Don."

"Okay… Okay."

Of course, it wasn't a moment when questions would be appreciated. Larry offered to share a cab to the FBI, and on the way there, neither him nor Charlie said anything. The mathematician spent fifteen minutes working on some of the equations he had written on one the many papers. The physicist tried to read what they said, what information they represented, because Amita was a close friend of his too. But Larry didn't want to make Charlie even more nervous, so he just glanced at the graphics and some symbols that helped him to have a little idea of what his former student had discovered. He was sad that none of his quantum theory had been of any help.

When they arrived at the FBI quarters, every agent from every office got up to see a desperate Charlie pass them by. A mass of curled hair all tangled, clothes that hadn't been washed or changed in two days, and an important number of creased papers and pens falling to the floor while he ran; followed by a short physicist in a very ugly orange t-shirt.

"Don. Don!" Charlie called his brother. Don heard him and came with the rest of the team to meet him.

"Did you break it?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Let's go inside."

Everybody entered one of the offices, where there was three huge screens connected to several computers. Charlie took out a pen drive from his pocket and used it to explain in images what he had found.

He tossed his hair aside in a gesture that meant that he was so tired he could collapse at any second. Megan watched him talk but followed more the signs that indicated that he was too stressed and exhausted; if she saw any clues that made her believe that he was about to pass out, she would call someone immediately.

"I can't believe it. I was too blind to see that it was a very simple code. First I thought that as it was directed to me specifically, the basic characters to break the code had to come from data contained in one the most famous mathematician's works. I had been searching for Babbage, Fibonacci, Pythagoras, etcetera, for an entire week. And yet, I wasn't getting anything."

"But you did, eventually" Don said.

"Yeah. What I was looking for have nothing to do with it. The problem could be solved analyzing my own work. She thought I could easily read her message if she used a table of numbers and letters based on the 'Mathematical Analysis of Friendship Dynamics' ".

"The Attraction Equation," David muttered.

Charlie nodded, and when he smiled, Colby thought he looked so terrible that he wished that now that the mathematician had solved the code problem, he could relax for an entire week.

But then Charlie started to put on the tables the things he had brought with him. In the papers there were tables that explored all the possibilities the code could handle if the hidden message could be read using his latest book as a guide. When he explained what he had done, no one could follow him, except for Larry, who freely expressed his own opinion and finally gave his approval. Colby was just absorbed by Charlie's intensity again, and he didn't even listen to him when he got to the punch line.

"So this is what she's trying to tell us". Charlie took a certain paper in his hands, where the symbols had been replaced with letters. He showed it to everybody else.

**MOTEL SAINT FATE.**

**2 MEN. GRENADES AND SOPHISTICATED WEAPONS. **

"Ok, guys, let's go. Right now," Don commanded, and everyone got out of the room, except Colby. He went to where Larry and Charlie were.

"You did it," he muttered, with a smile on his face.

"I _finally_ did it," Charlie answered, and took a breath, as deep as the one he had taken when he had seen Larry at the front door of his house. "My mind is working again."

He stared at his papers, feeling proud of himself. He saw Larry reading documents than contemplate other possibilities related to the code, and knew that he wasn't aware of anything around him. So he stepped towards Colby and put a hand on his arm, as the other always did to show him support.

"And it wouldn't have been possible without you" Charlie said in a whispered, and realized he didn't know why he had done it as if no one but the agent was supposed to hear it. "In fact, all of this is because of you"

_You were so supportive. Just your presence made my day. You are a fantastic friend. Probably one of the few people I have learned to love in very little time in ages._

There, a few inches apart, he noticed Colby's face was a little flushed and that his eyes were focused on him. Those blue eyes were showing him respect, admiration and affection.

The agent had gone completely blank: he had never thought he could actually be the cause of Charlie's energy, much less the reason why he could begin to think again about math and actually be right. It was like living a little bit that hope he had about being the source of Charlie's fire. The idea burnt his heart and his skin, although only the mathematician's hand was touching him through two layers of clothing. But it was such an intimate gesture, the way he caressed his arm lightly, being careful of not crumple his black suit.

Charlie was still looking at him, and probably already had realized that Colby was staring at him like an idiot. Or like a person in love.

_But you don't think about him like that. At least not really. You're just using him for your little fantasy. You just wished you had a woman that could love you the way he loves Amita._

Trying to stay calm and not be too obvious about his confused state of mind, Colby glanced at Larry, who was behind Charlie, still looking at the numbers the mathematician had written.

"I'm glad I could help you," he finally said, trying to sound confident.

Charlie removed his hand from his arm, and Colby felt like he had lost all the air he could breathe until tomorrow morning.

"Well, I'm glad you were the one to help me," the mathematician responded, and the agent felt like he could start to laugh right now. "She's going to be fine. Just like you told me", Charlie added, and Colby suddenly felt like all of his energy was going down to his feet.

"Yeah. Just like I told you" he repeated, and his heart ached a little. But this was for the best. Amita should come back, be with the one person that loved her, the one person she loved back. No matter how much Colby wanted it to be different, things had to have a certain order, and he didn't have the right to break it at all. "I'm bringing her back to you, Charlie. Just wait here and try to stay calm" he said before he left, still a little bit nervous with Charlie watching him go.

Two hours later, Charlie received a phone call. David asked him to go to the hospital, downtown. He hurried as much as he could, and when he arrived with Larry, he was soon holding a very hurt Amita in his arms like he hadn't seen her in ten years.

From one of the corners, Colby observed the way Charlie's hands pulled Amita toward his body. Colby could almost feel the heat that skin radiated. Charlie was all wet, since he had been sweating for the last hours, hoping everything turned out to be ok.

Amita kissed Charlie on the cheek and Colby felt embarrassed that he wished that relationship to end. He glanced at something else than her lips on Charlie's face, and he swallowed his feelings.

But he was about to break when, after thanking everybody, Charlie went to that corner of his and put his arms around him.

_It's not what you think. Stop thinking he cares the way you care. It's just a 'thank you' hug._

He put his arms around Charlie too, and when he did it, he felt like if he was doing something forbidden because of his new intentions. Luckily, Charlie didn't seem to notice the hidden purpose, but kept looking at him through lowered lashes, like he was the person he wanted to see again the most at the hospital, and not Amita.

"Thanks for bringing her home, Colby. Thank you so much"

Again, when Charlie took away his warm hands from him, he had this weird feeling that he was all emptiness without that man by his side. And when the mathematician said that he would stay that night at the hospital, taking care of Amita, Colby wished he was the one that was resting in that bed, all covered in bruises.

But he went home and tried to sleep to forget about everything. He took a damn pill because he just wanted to sleep all night, without having any kind of dreams that remind him of Charlie, and wanted to wake up in the morning to realize that all the feelings he had experienced the last few days were only a prank his silly mind had been playing on him.

Amita had been watching Charlie interact with Colby during that evening at the hospital. There was something special between them, it was more than obvious. A new, good and sincere friendship. She was glad his boyfriend had become closer to someone from the team, other than Don, and occasionally Megan.

She talked with Charlie for an hour about that, and noticed that Colby now was an important part of his life. They also talked about how the mathematician had broken the code, and how smart she had been by using the "Mathematical Analysis of Friendship Dynamics" to build it.

But then she was talking about how she knew someone was going to save her, and Charlie feel asleep. His curls rested on his shoulders, eyes closed, almost snoring already. She smiled watching him like this, taking a break after days of stress. She stayed awake to admire his intelligence, his focus, a little longer.

But Charlie was in another world.

_He found himself waking up inside an SUV, at the passenger's seat. How much time had passed since Amita's kidnapping? There was no calendar, no clock that could tell him anything about what time it was._

_But he knew exactly where he was going to. He smiled when she saw Amita in the driver's seat, by his side, smiling back at him. They were on the road, and they were going to spend a week in interesting locations that could be joined in a map to form a Pi symbol._

"_I didn't find it creepy, by the way" she said, and Charlie wondered how she knew what he was thinking about._

"_Good", he answered, and forgot about the telepathy issue. "So, what's our first stop? 'Cause I'm so glad we're doing this. It came to me in a dream. I know I'm going to sound like Megan, but dreams can provide you amazing ideas, and sometimes even tell you some things about yourself you didn't know"_

"_And not only dreams, but also friends can give very good advice," Amita said, still smiling, barely taking her eyes off the road._

"_I know. Colby was right about it. We had to do this." _

"_But you didn't have to take me with you."_

_Charlie jumped in his seat when he heard that male voice. When he turned out, he found what he thought he would: Colby was in the backseat. But there was something wrong about this, and it wasn't just the fact that he was inside the vehicle. _

"_Why are you dressed in tac gear?"_

"_I don't know. You made me put on all this."_

"_You're saying I made you…? Amita, Colby, what's going on here?"_

_Both of them looked at each other, then at Charlie, and shook their heads, like they were disappointed that he couldn't find any meaning to the present situation._

_So Charlie hid his face behind his pale hands. He took a deep breath and turn to look at Amita again. But Colby had taken her place at the driver's seat. He looked for her in the backseat, but she had disappeared. And the car hadn't stopped yet._

_It was absolutely impossible. Unless it was all a dream. Now he got it: he was trapped inside his own mind. However, he didn't worry about it, because he could handle anything that happened there. He was in control now._

_But then Colby spoke. "So, how much you care?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I'm asking how much you care about me."_

_Charlie found himself very confused again. But he could manage his feelings. "Well, you have become my friend. I guess I'm glad you're here"_

"_And that's all."_

_Taking his eyes of the road, Colby looked at him, lips slightly open, and Charlie found himself staring at them. _

"_Charlie."_

_The mathematician raised his gaze from that mouth and met Colby's eyes. He remembered that warm look. The agent smiled a little, and focused on the road again._

"_So…" Colby said, very serious._

"_So… what?" Charlie asked, trying to seem cool about everything that was happening._

"_So, now you know"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

_A moment of silence._

_Colby said, "Yeah, you do know it. You just don't want to admit it, no matter how much you have to swallow your feelings, because it would ruin everything. But your mind is very aware of what you really desire. I don't think I should start writing equations to convince you that this is a proof of it"_

_Charlie started feeling like there was no enough air inside the car, and opened a window. He watched the empty road. This dream was like the real trip he had taken with Colby a few days ago, just that things that he didn't want to think about were popping out everywhere, anytime._

"_C'mon, get it out of your system. This is your head we're in. No one's going to listen. And you probably won't remember anything in the morning anyway."_

_Colby stared at Charlie, as if he was encouraging him to speak. The mathematician considered what he had to lose. He realized it was nothing. Maybe if he admitted what he felt in a dream, he could close this unexpected fantasy that could ruin his relationship with Amita as much as his friendship - or whatever it was- with Colby. That, at least, was something Megan had said in one her endless conversations with Larry in front of the team._

_The wind was caressing his face. The Colby of his dream was intelligent, strong and confident, a very nice product of his mind. So what if he said it; it didn't matter._

"_Ok…you wanted me to say it? Fine, so here it goes. And please promise me that you won't laugh, even if you are something I'm imagining right now." He looked at Colby and the eye and the vehicle parked somewhere along the road. "I have been very confused about your significance in my daily life. I'm happy that we got to know each other more, and yet I'm terrified because I don't know what you mean when you look at me like that."_

"_How do I look at you?"_

"_Just like that, the way you're looking at me right now. Your eyes shine, like I'm the only one person that matters in the world. It makes me think you want…"_

"_What I want doesn't matter here. It's your reaction to me looking at you that's important. I know that you really meant that hug to be more than just a 'thank you' gesture"_

"_Well… maybe."_

"_Maybe.". Colby wasn't convinced at all, because, after all, he was part of Charlie's subconscience. _

"_Yeah, maybe I wanted to hold you. I wanted to hold you so tight in that hospital, and not for bringing Amita back. I wanted to do it just because it was you, because you were there. Because I feel I have a connection with you that no one can break"_

_Charlie stopped talking. Colby reached the mathematician's face and caressed it with his left hand. He was still looking at him with warm eyes. And he started to lean._

"_What… what are you doing?" Charlie asked. _

"_You know what I'm doing."_

"_Colby… are you… are you trying to kiss me in my dreams?"_

Suddenly, Charlie went back to reality. He jumped in his seat and realized that it had been a dream, just as he imagined. He tossed aside some curls that were tangled with sweat. He hadn't gone home to take a shower and change his clothes: he was still looking like hell.

At least he was with Amita. She lay in the bed, facing the opposite direction. She seemed to be asleep.

But she wasn't. She had been watching Charlie sleep for a while, and then she had heard him say some things. She had heard the last confessions Charlie had give in to in his dreams. Dreams that included Colby as a lover.


	5. The best for me

**Title:** The best for me  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 5/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Amita  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4  
**Summary:** Amita is trying to make her life go back to normal, but she can't keep her concerns to herself forever. Even if she is at the FBI, in the middle of a case.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my beta, who helped me so much with this._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 5: "The best for me"**

Amita's wounds healed very fast, so fast that three weeks after she had returned home, she was continuing with her classes at CalSci and helping Charlie to solve the FBI cases.

However, all of the stress she had been through the kidnapping seemed to have an echo in the present. Charlie had been great since he had seen her safe again, since he had held her in his arms that night at the hospital. They had spent a lot of time together and they had argued for days about Amita going back to work. Charlie didn't want her to put herself in danger again, after all that had happened. He had asked her, begged her that she stopped trying to be a hero, because someday he or the team might not be able to save her from a crazy person again.

Amita had answered Charlie that he was in the same situation as her. He consulted for the FBI almost every week, and even ended up in the middle of a violent scenario every once in a while. So that was it. His boyfriend couldn't convince her to do something as crazy as stop helping people to get away from rapists, stalkers and more. What she needed the most at the moment was to feel in touch with her normal environment, her normal life, and try to forget about the incident so she could concentrate in her relationship with Charlie.

It hasn't been easy at all. She could feel something was lost. Even worse, she could see it. It was in front of her eyes, even at the FBI. She had gone there with Charlie because Don needed someone to enhance the quality of some photos so some criminal's face could be matched to a profile, or at least to a name and an address. And all the time she was typing codes in her laptop, trying to figure out some weapons thief's identity because that was the only lead the team had, she had to listen to his boyfriend talking to the man he had been obviously dreaming about.

The bond between Charlie and Colby had been growing even more during the past three weeks. Everybody at the office, and even Larry, joked or make comments about how close they had become. No one could see what she saw, no one could know what she knew. No one could make connections between what both men were saying and what they really meant with those smiles.

She could hear them behind her, they sited in front of each other, at Colby and David's desks.

"So… what did you do this weekend? Did you go to that trip you talked to me about?" Colby asked.

Charlie tensed a little, remembering the dream he had had a few weeks ago. Colby had appeared in the middle of it, made him confess the awkward attraction he felt towards him and he had tried to give him a kiss.

_But you fixed it. You made your confessions, your mind relaxed because of that release. You haven't thought about him like that since then. Amita's the only person you care about that way. This is just a good friendship._

"Hum… no, I actually didn't. I'm waiting for the right time to ask, when that special someone is able to go for it," he quickly answered, and that sounded very smooth, like he wanted to surprise Amita with the invitation.

"I understand. Just for the record, I still think it's a great idea," Colby reminded him, and then smiled when he remembered the Pi shape that Charlie was so worried about.

As a reflection of this gesture, the mathematician laughed a little, and it felt like he was glowing. Charlie didn't notice the spark in his own eyes, or the one in Colby's. It felt very natural for them to just talk like this, while they waited for Amita's results on the enhanced photos.

"You know, maybe you could come home and have dinner with me sometime." Charlie said, leaning towards him a little, his lips still curved up.

_It's fine to invite friends to dinner. I like having long conversations with him, after all. It's nothing weird._

He didn't shift his position when Colby leaned towards him, looking at him with warm eyes, just like he always did, and muttered softly. "I would like that."

Charlie held to that sweet voice in his head one more second and asked. "Ok. Is Friday night ok?"

"More than ok. It's absolutely perfect."

"I'm glad…"

"Me too…"

During the whole conversation there had been a tone in their voices that made Amita more and more nervous and unable to work properly on the images. But this, this fluffy words, and that invitation, and the way they were leaning towards each other, trying to look like friends at the office when they obviously weren't going in that direction, was too much for her.

She suddenly got up and turned around, taking the laptop with her. Charlie and Colby separated and stared at her like they thought she had discovered each one's intentions and fantasies. She stared at them in return, unable to say anything that made sense.

"Is something wrong?" Charlie asked, but she didn't answer. "Amita, are you ok?"

When Amita got out of that room and entered the closest empty one, he was truly worried about her. He got up, glancing at Colby, letting him know he would take care of this, and went to meet her.

He put a hand on her shoulder and tossed aside her hair so he could see her face. She removed his hand without saying a word.

"What's going on? Please, tell me. You're scaring me". He still didn't receive any answer. "I'm serious. Are you still mad at me because I don't want you to work for the FBI anymore?"

That was all Amita needed to explode like a bomb when the time is up. Charlie's innocent questions. Like he didn't know what was happening, what he was doing. "Oh, c'mon, Charlie. You know this has nothing to do with that." she said, and she sounded really angry.

The mathematician noticed the office's door was open and he went to close it. He wished the building didn't have only transparent glasses as walls and that everyone could see them in a public fight. "Are we going to have a fight?"

"I think we've already started one thirty seconds ago."

"Could we go some place else? Anyone can see us here, and no one really needs to know about our personal problems."

"Well, maybe you should have thought about it before you decided to put a show in the middle of the office."

"What?"Charlie's eyes were wide open, and he looked like he wasn't identifying Amita's point at all. This just made her get even more pissed off.

"Don't try to act like it wasn't on purpose."

"_What. did. I. do?_ If you could just tell me what at you talking about, maybe I could…"

"You were there _flirting_ with _Colby_, in front of _me_!"

Completely astonished, Charlie stared at her, his hands frozen in the air in the middle of a gesture he had been repeating since the discussion had started.

_How can she know? How? It's just not possible. Please, don't let it be possible._

She crossed her arms and waited for him to say something. But when he froze, she just shook her head, annoyed at his attitude, and started to pick up her bag, her laptop and her other things.

"What are you doing?" Charlie finally asked when he was able to react to that.

"Leaving."

The mathematician took a breath and tried to stay calm. "Amita, how can you think I could want something with Colby? He's my friend, my work colleague, and besides, I'm not into guys."

"Well, maybe you weren't, but you are definitely now."

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense."

"Oh. My. God. Why do you keep denying it? Why can't you just be honest with me?"

Amita got closer to him, and her angry tone suddenly became so sad it made Charlie's head burst. "I heard you speak in your dreams, the first night at the hospital."

Charlie's eyes were focused on her, and he was once more left out of words. Now he was also left out of air.

_Oh no. No, no, no, no._

He stared at Amita again in silence, and watched tears appear in her sweet eyes.

"It's fine, I don't judge you about it. We can fall in love with anyone around us, no matter what gender they are. Because after all, they are all people. I just wished you have told me what you felt for him. To find out this way that you cared more about him than you cared about me was just… horrible. It broke my heart."

He had tears in his eyes too. He wanted to make everything ok again, before it was too late. Charlie started speaking like crazy, desperate to end this fight. "Ok, maybe I'm a little confused. But we can work it out, we can spend more time together, do whatever you think it will help…"

"It won't work, Charlie. I see the way you look at him. It's the same way you used to look at me when we started this relationship. But I can't take it anymore, it's been three weeks and I have realized that you won't be happy with me."

"Amita, please… I don't want to lose you. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. _Anything you say._"

Amita wiped away her tears with her hand, taking her eyes off Charlie for a second, but then she looked at him again and put her palms on each side of his chest. "It wouldn't be fair for any of us. I don't want to be the one to stay between you two. It's more than obvious that you're very close and will become closer as time goes by. So I have to leave. I'll call some of my relatives in India. I'm going to spend some time there."

"You don't have to move to another country because of this."

"Yes, I need to. It's the best thing to do for me. I couldn't stand to see you with him, not right now, after all this mess."

"Are you coming back?"

"I can't tell you that for sure. But right now, I don't think so."

This was the moment when Charlie knew it was over, and that there was no turning back. "So this is a goodbye," he muttered.

"Yeah. It's a goodbye." she said, while he caressed her long hair. Amita continued speaking. "I wish you to be happy. Even if I'm not the one person… to be by your side."

So she stepped aside, took her stuff and got out the room. Charlie watched her abandon the FBI through the window, with tears falling down his flushed cheeks. He knew she had seen everything right, and that this relationship couldn't work if he was paying attention to someone else. There was a new person that had stolen a big part of his heart, and that very special man named Colby was now opening the door, leaning against its frame.

"I saw Amita leave. She looked angry. Is everything ok?"

Colby was sincerely worried about him. But Charlie couldn't deal with his feelings for him right now. He was too sad that Amita had left, maybe forever, because he still cared about her as a friend.

"No. Everything's not ok," the mathematician answered, and left the room knowing that he would need some time to decide what to do about the Colby situation.


	6. Are you mad at me or something?

**Title:** Are you mad at me or something?  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 6/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, David, Larry/Megan  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4  
**Summary:** Charlie's avoiding Colby and the agent asks David for advice. Then Larry comes up with a very good idea that involves Megan… but she has other plans.

**Feeback:** Yes, please! Feedback is love. I'm begging you, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my beta, who, as always, helped me a lot._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 6: "Are you mad at me or something?"**

Things had been strange since Tuesday. Even if the cases were solved successfully, the atmosphere at the FBI quarters had somehow become darker.

Charlie was angry all the time about everything. And this time it wasn't because he couldn't make his head work; it was because everybody knew Amita had broken up with him and they still tried to not bring up the subject. The team made a huge effort to sound like nothing had happened, even when Amita's presence was obviously missed.

Of course, Colby knew that this was at least one of the reasons why Charlie seemed to not want to talk to him lately. After all, the agent had been the one person to express to the team his concerns about Amita and Charlie's terrible fight.

Colby hated himself so much for that. Then he had tried to find out if anyone knew what could have caused that discussion, but he had ended up making the mathematician's love life become the new source of gossip of the entire office. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? Why did he have to start caring so much about Charlie again?

Now, on Thursday, it was like the wonderful connection they once shared was on a hiatus. And there was a big possibility that Colby had ruined it himself forever. So he didn't say a word about Amita either. He just wished that time could pass by faster and that the anger in Charlie's face would vanish to never appear again.

Playing with the pen he was holding between his index and middle finger, he felt nervous just watching Charlie finish telling everyone about some commonalities one of his algorithms had highlighted. Colby took a deep breath when the mathematician stopped talking. Charlie just grabbed his stuff and got out of there without even looking at him.

_Damn. This is worse than I thought._

He felt a hand land on his right shoulder. It was David, who knew Colby so well that he was aware that something was going on inside his friend's head. He smiled at the blue-eyed agent, and prepared himself to give him some advice. "Hey, he's gonna be ok. You know how upset he gets when he can't make things work his way."

"I know. But I did cause everybody to know about that fight. I didn't have the right to spread the news."

David saw sadness and concern in Colby's face. He was playing with the pen in a way that always meant one of two things: that he was thinking deeply or that he was indecisive about something.

"We've had our issues in the past, haven't we?" David asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Colby said, and turned to look at him with lifted eyebrows.

"Well, we've passed through all that. Our friendship survived. I don't see any reason why you and he couldn't get along again."

Colby shifted his position. "Hmm… I guess you're right, although it would take some time."

"Sure."

"What do you think I should do to… you know… hurry up things a little?"

That was a question that David knew was coming, but he hadn't expected the almost embarrassed look in Colby's eyes.

Colby said quickly, "I don't like feeling like this every time he's around. I think it's better for the team that this awkwardness can be put to and end, so that we all can continue working together as we always did." Colby calmed down when he saw David had bought his lie and was now thinking about what to respond.

"You know, just talk to him."

"I don't think it's gonna work."

"Maybe not so soon, because this mess started only two days ago. So yeah, he will probably yell at you now, but it will make him forgive you eventually. And anyway you can prevent having to argue with him by taking him to some place where you can be alone."

This was a good idea. David was a very good friend, trying to give his best to help. So Colby patted him on the arm, said "I think I'll do that. Thank you, David", dropped the pen he was playing with and said to himself he would fix any problem Charlie could have with him.

He needed to feel the mathematician didn't hate his presence, he needed to know whether he was welcome in his house or not. Since the Friday night dinner issue had been brought out, he was again thinking about Charlie in an almost romantic way.

_So what if I like him. It's not like he's ever going to know. _

So he went to CalSci, knowing that the mathematician had classes on the afternoon. He looked for him at his office, and at the class room, but didn't find him. Finally, he started walking around the campus, hoping he would see that dark mass of curly hair pop out when he less expected it.

Luckily, his wishes came true. He saw Charlie and Larry sitting in silence at a table. While the physicist looked completely relaxed and pleased with the calm ambience, the mathematician seemed to be very worried about something.

Colby approached them without making a sound, because Larry had his eyes closed and was almost at a state of meditation that no one should probably take him out of. So he mouthed a "Hey" to Charlie, who didn't smile back at him like he always did. This made the agent a little nervous.

_Well, I was already expecting this kind of attitude from you. But how the hell am I going to convince you to talk to me now?_

Larry opened his eyes and looked at Colby, smiled friendly to him and offered his hand. The agent accepted it, said a quick "Hi" and then turned to Charlie.

"Hello, Charlie," he said, and when the mathematician's face became darker, he asked, "I just came here to ask you what we should do about tomorrow's dinner." He didn't receive any answer.

_Just tell me. Just talk to me._

But nothing happened. Charlie just remained there, sitting in his chair, his hands in fists.

"Should I go or not? Because if you're mad at me or something…", Colby wanted to know.

"I'm not mad at you. Why would I be?" Charlie finally said, but he didn't look like he was cool about Colby's presence at the university or at any other place.

"C'mon, Charlie, I can see that you're not exactly happy to see me, not here, not at the office. I would like to talk to you sometime, if you let me. And I wanted to know if it could be on Friday night dinner, but I guess it's not going to happen."

"I said I don't have a problem with you."

"Then why are you avoiding me, then?"

"I'm not avoiding you, I'm here, with you!" Now Charlie was letting his anger go. He had stood up and gone to where Colby was. Both men stared at each other, trying to figure out what they should say next.

But Larry spoke first. "May I suggest that you do have that Friday night dinner, but that you invite someone else? That person could act like a symbolic barrier between you two, moderate the high scales of anger and probably fix the conflict that has risen here."

This idea seemed more than good to Colby. It was better that the suggestion hadn't occurred to him and that it had come from somebody else, because this would upset Charlie less. So Colby he said "I think that person should be you, Larry."

"What? No, no, I couldn't. I'm not good at anything related to any discussions…"

"Please, Larry. It's for us," Colby insisted.

"You don't have to do this, Larry," Charlie said immediately, "I can deal with this situation by myself, I don't need a life coach." He was being serious about that.

However, Larry looked at the two men's faces, put his hands on each side of his own face and considered the implications of an extension of the fight between the agent and the mathematician. The perspectives weren't good at all. This kind of conflicts were making Charlie more reluctant to speak about anything, and also making Colby not be able to concentrate on his FBI duties.

"I don't think I would be of any help… but I could ask Megan to do it."

"I said I don't..." Charlie started to say, but Colby cut him off.

"It's fine, Larry. If you don't feel comfortable, then Megan could help us with this."

"This is so unnecessary," the mathematician muttered. Then he sat again on the chair, and covered his eyes with his hands.

Colby watched him breathe hard, but he felt satisfied with his own moves.

_I got you. You're not going to escape from me this time. I'm going to do things go back to normal between us again. I'm going to rescue the connection we had, even if it takes Megan to filter whatever I want to say to you._

"So, I'll be knocking at your door tomorrow night at about eight," he announced, and left Charlie and Larry at the table.

The physicist took a breath and tried to find the right words to explain to Charlie why he had come up with such an insane idea.

"Look, Charles… I really think this is for the best. Megan is a very sharp expert in psychology. She will be able to identify the underlying problem that is hiding down this distance… this silent discussion… that you are both holding on to."

"Well, thank you for your good intentions. But as I said, I don't need someone else to fix my problems." There was something almost desperate in Charlie's voice now.

Larry just wished he would calm down. The physicist always felt more than awkward dealing with someone else's confusion and discomfort.

But finally, Charlie seemed to go back to earth and dropped the angry tone. "I'm sorry, Larry. I guess that… sometimes I do need help. I really don't know what to do about Colby. Just to see him… just to know that he's around… it makes me shiver."

"Well, let's hope that your relationship with him can be improved with this kind of therapy session."

"Yeah, let's hope so."

They talked for a while about new theories, new professors, and some of their students. Then Charlie had to go give his afternoon class, so they separated looking at peace with each other.

So when he was left alone Larry thought it would be a good time to visit Megan and tell her about the session plan. He found her outside the FBI quarters with a _latte_ in her hand, sipping it slowly while she watched the sky turn black.

"Hello," Larry said, and stood beside her.

"Hi, Larry," Megan answered, and offered him a big, cute smile. "I'm glad you're here."

"Well, all the main events of this afternoon drove me to you."

"Oh, I wonder what those could be," she said, still smiling.

"It is related to the Charlie and Colby situation."

"They have been acting like they were strangers to each other today. David told me that Colby thinks Charlie is avoiding him because he told us about Amita leaving."

"Do you think that is the main reason?"

"No. The fight was at the office. Anyone could have let us know."

As always, Megan was right. So Larry went straight to the point.

"Colby came to see Charles at CalSci this afternoon."

"That doesn't surprise me. David told me that they would try to talk alone."

"Well… yes, that was the initial idea."

"Is everything ok?" Megan sounded worried. She thought that the agent and the mathematician had had a fight at the university. She started to think of a way to make them get along before their problems started to affect the bond that existed between all the members of the team.

"They are going to talk. But they are looking for someone to be there to control their reactions."

"It seems like a good idea, but I don't really think it's necessary yet. It's usually recommended to people with very deep anger feelings to each other, and it's not the situation they are dealing with."

"Oh… I didn't know that. I told them I would ask you to help them. Was that ok?"

Megan smiled at Larry, who looked afraid that he'd done something she shouldn't have. "Yes, don't worry about it."

"So what are you doing to do? Are you going to call them to tell them that you'll be there tomorrow?"

"No. I'm going to do nothing."

Larry's eyebrows almost joined. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if I told them that I'm not going to Charlie's house tomorrow, then they would probably not gather together."

"I see your point. So you are planning on letting fate work its magic between them, and if it doesn't, then you will intervene."

"Exactly," she said, and smiled again. "Saving a special connection with someone always requires a high level of intimacy," Megan added, and saw Larry nod in agreement. Then she crossed her fingers, wishing everything was ok between Colby and Charlie, and watched the blue sky while taking a sip of her last cup of coffee of the day.


	7. I can't seem to get you out of my head

**Title:** I can't seem to get you out of my head  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 7/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Don, Alan  
**Rating:** M

**Warnings: Slash and ****intense dream/fantasy****, so be careful if you don't read things like these.  
Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4  
**Summary:** Charlie has a dream about Colby that makes him shiver like he never thought he would.

**Feeback:** Yes, please! Feedback is love. I'm begging you, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

_**A/N: This chapter is a little gift to the readers out there that have been waiting for the new Numb3rs episode of April 4**__**th**__**.**_

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 7: "I can't seem to get you out of my head"**

When Charlie returned home Thursday night, he found Don eating some lasagna his father had made for lunch. "Hey, Don," he said and went towards him.

"Hey, Charlie." Don turned to face his younger brother and his eyes went wide open. "Damn, you look like hell! Well, probably not more than that night at the hospital."

"Please, don't say a word about that night."

The warning was something that caught Don by surprise. He ate a mouthful of lasagna and asked "Why? That's when Amita was rescued. You sound like you're not happy about that."

"Well, look how it turned out. She's probably in India right now."

"No offense, Charlie, but I don't think that she's going to go anywhere so soon, it's only been two days since you…" Don, who had dared to talk to Charlie about the fight for the first time, went silent when he found his brother staring at him. "Ok, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"No, no. We can talk about this. I don't get why no one wants to bring up the subject, because it's perfectly fine if they do. That's… one of the many things that are upsetting me so much."

Charlie took out a dish and silverware. He sat down beside Don and took a big piece of lasagna. While he was eating, he continued ranting, "I hate it so much when everybody treats me like a kid."

"No one's doing that, Chuck."

"Are you sure? Because when you try to make me think I don't have any problems, that means you're being overprotective. That, to me, is being treated like a kid. I'm a _man_, I'm over _thirty_, damn it!"

"Okay, okay, buddy… just calm down…"

Eating like crazy, Charlie looked at Don and said, "You and your 'Chuck' didn't exactly help me with that."

"I know. Sorry."

"Ah… it's fine, but… it's just that I'm so tired of this, of struggling with this feeling I have inside my chest, of not being able to control it like a normal adult…"

He stopped talking. Why the hell why was he saying this? To say it out loud while being conscious was way more dangerous and way more stupid than babbling in his sleep.

Don said, "Feelings, huh? Look, I'm not the best when it comes to giving advice about certain areas, and that means specifically that I don't know for sure how to deal well with a real romance…"

"I already know that, Don. I could find it out just looking at the way you flirt with almost every woman you meet."

"Hey, I'm trying to help you here," Don said, and he sounded between offended and embarrassed. "What I'm trying to say is that… you know, if she goes away, then maybe it's for the best."

"You said something like that to me before… when some universities offered Amita a job, about two years ago."

"Yeah, I remember. And what did I tell you then?"

"That the one thing that could ruin everything…was me."

Don just nodded and took another mouthful of food. Charlie got lost in his brother's wisdom. _Yes, I am definitely the reason why she left._

"Charlie?"

"What?"

"Just for the record, whatever you did, I don't think she's going to move to another country just for that."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Astonished, Don left his fork on the table and looked at Charlie. "Charlie, what did you do to her that was so terrible?"

_I mumbled in my dreams that I'm romantically interested in a man. A man that she knows, that you know and that shares an important part of our work almost everyday. Isn't that disturbing and serious enough?_

"You can talk to me, Charlie. You know I will find out somehow about it."

Charlie thought about that for a moment. Amita would not be available to answer Don's questions. So he just said "I'm not telling you that. Sorry, it's personal."

"So personal that you can't share it with your own brother?"

"Yeah, actually it is."

"Since when?" Don muttered, and stopped eating at all. He stared at Charlie, but didn't say a word. Something big, and probably bad, was going on. His younger brother was very upset and confused about some kind of "feeling" that had made him do something so terrible that it had caused Amita to want to move to India. Don promised himself he would find out what it was.

The door suddenly opened and Alan entered the house, carrying some food in paper bags. "Hello, boys. How are you doing today?" He saw Don and Charlie had been eating his lasagna. "So, I was right. I did know that wouldn't last until I come home."

"Very funny," Don said, and continued eating. He noticed Charlie hadn't responded to his father's comment, and was just sitting beside him, silent again. He saw that his father was paying attention to that, too.

Alan asked, "Hey, Charlie. Are you ok? You seem very tired."

"I_ am_ very tired."

"Then why don't you go sleep? Donnie and I here can clean this up."

"Dad, I work 24/7 too!" Don yelled, acting like when he was fifteen years old.

While Don kept ranting and Charlie went upstairs to his room, Alan didn't argue that. However, when his youngest son's figure disappeared, he turned back to Don and said, "Of course I know that you're a very busy man too, Donnie. But you didn't just break up with the woman you spent the last two years of your life, or maybe more, considering the dates." Alan took a breath and then expressed something that had been bothering him since he had found out about the fight between Charlie and his girlfriend. "You know, it's none of my business, but I would like to know what happened with those two. I mean, they looked so close."

"And you were hoping to have grandchildren in two or three years from now, weren't you?" Don laughed, but then went serious again.

"Yes, and when you get to my age, if you don't already have children, you'll understand me."

Then the topic of the conversation changed to matters such us Alan's desire to have a bigger family through his sons and Don's unsuccessful love life. But Don wouldn't forget about the weird situation involving Charlie's behavior and Amita's sudden trip.

Once he got upstairs, Charlie closed the window a little, because it was getting cold. He changed his clothes and put on some sweatpants and an old-black t-shirt. He sat on his bed, with his laptop and some papers he had to grade, and tried his best to work.

But he couldn't. Inside his mind there was a little voice telling him that tomorrow would be a more than important day. He would have to explain and discuss the sudden distance he had taken from Colby, and he would have to do it in front of Megan. She hadn't called yet to confirm her presence at the Eppes' house on Friday night dinner. But she cared about both Charlie and Colby, so she would probably do it.

The mathematician put the laptop and the papers on the nightstand, knowing that he wouldn't make any progress that night.

_Nothing bad is going to happen tomorrow. You are just going to find out that your mixed feelings for Colby mean nothing, that Amita was wrong. Ok, so you were avoiding him today, even if you said otherwise. But it's fine. Everything's going to be all right, we'll work things out and you'll be able to get your life back on track, even if Amita is not here anymore._

After talking to himself for a while, he took the bed's sheets and covered his entire body, including his head, with them. He tried to relax one more time and when he did, he felt himself falling into a very heavy sleep.

_It had been an awful day. Too much work, still too many papers to grade._

_He opened the front door of the Eppes' house, came in. He noticed there was a note on the table._

_**I can't meet you today, guys. I hope you can forgive me.**_

_**- Megan.**_

_He heard steps behind him. He didn't turn back but he knew who it was. Immediately, his arms lost all their force, and dropped his stuff. It landed on the floor with a soft sound._

"_Colby."_

"_Charlie."_

_Charlie turned around and swallowed when he saw the agent standing in the shadows, by the window, where the curtains moved slowly, following the rhythm of the sweet wind of the night._

"_I'm not dreaming again, am I?" Charlie asked, and noticed that Colby was slowly smiling without taking his eyes off of him. "Well, I'm glad to announce you that we won't see each other in this kind of situations anymore. Tomorrow I'm going to talk to the real you and make this ridiculous fantasy go away forever." He was so proud of himself, he was actually acting so confident and calm in his own dream. It was nothing like the last one he had had._

"_Excuse me, but I don't think that's going to happen," Colby answered, and he was smiling, like if he was mocking Charlie's expectations._

"_What?" the mathematician said in a whisper. Then he shook his head, tired of his own mind, always playing games with mysterious comments about himself. "Ok then, what reasons has my mind to claim that?"_

_That was the moment when Colby started to walk towards him. Charlie tried to keep the distance, but the agent seemed determined to catch him._

"_Stay away. Stay away," he muttered, and then he was running from Colby, passing through several doors, until they were in the living room again. _

_They had stopped for a second, exhausted. But then the agent reached for Charlie again, who stumbled over a rug when he tried to escape. The mathematician hurt his back and ended up lying in the coach, cursing. _

_Charlie opened his eyes, mumbling about the pain he felt, and he saw Colby was laughing at him. "Oh, thank you very much. Even my mind laughs at me in my dreams for being so clumsy."_

"_No, your mind makes you more clumsy than usual and prepares this kind of incidents so you end up there, not being able to move, completely at my mercy. __Then_ _your mind laughs at you and your persistence on denying your feelings," Colby explained, smiling._

_This was a tense moment. The agent was right: Charlie couldn't move, his back hurt too much, and he wouldn't be able to escape anymore from the situation. He had a hunch about what was going to happen._

"_Please… I don't… I don't really want this."_

"_Your mind says otherwise, I already told you that. And I'm going to make you accept –no, embrace- what's happening to you." Colby started to position himself above Charlie, who looked at him in horror. "C'mon, it's not that bad, and you know it. Just enjoy this little moment, Charlie. Just enjoy."_

"_I don't want to enjoy anything!," Charlie yelled at him, but he knew that deep inside he didn't really mean it. He hated himself so much for that. Colby's body pressed to his was strong, solid and warm. _

_And it burnt. When Colby's tongue licked his ear, Charlie's whole body jumped. Electricity ran through his bloodstream like an unexpected adrenaline shot._

"_Oh… I knew you would start to like this. You just needed a little warm up…" The agent talked in such sweet voice, he was planning on teasing Charlie until he finally gave in to him. "Just a little warm up…," he repeated._

_Charlie jumped in surprise again when Colby's fingers slipped inside his red silk shirt and brushed his nipples, oh so slowly, barely touching him. It was a sweet torture, a torture Charlie was actually enjoying, like the agent had said he would. _

_But the mathematician was still scared, now for both Colby's caresses as the pleasure he was feeling himself. "I… I…" He tried to say something but it didn't make any sense. Colby was now licking the soft skin of his neck; he was also was running his hands through Charlie's entire body and one of them had reached his crotch._

_He felt like he was out of breath, and he gasped for air when Colby's hand opened his jeans and entered his private space inside his boxers. The feeling that the touch of those fingers on his cock provoked to him was completely amazing. _

_Charlie felt himself grow hard as the fingers worked his way up and down his length, still so slowly, like if Colby was waiting for a direct order to follow before giving him more. "Colby…"_

_  
For Charlie's pleasure, the agent didn't stop stroking him, not for a second, but he removed his tongue from the mathematician's neck and placed a little kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Yes? Are you willing to tell me what you really want? Are you going to finally confess that all this is something you wish for all the time, that it's not just a fantasy you want to fulfill in your dreams but also in reality?"_

_Charlie thought for a moment that this was too much, that he wouldn't give in to that again, but then, what the hell? He was way passed the stage of the dream when he would still try to deny everything. _

_And then there were Colby's fingers a little bit more rough on his skin, and the little kisses in the corner of his mouth were teasing him again. So the only thing he was eager for right now was not denying and sounding like a decent man, but coming down from this hot arousal he couldn't stand anymore._

_So he just let go. _

"_Yes, I want… I want this to happen in the real world. Yes, I've been avoiding you… because I wasn't sure I could… control myself and… not revealing what I felt…"_

"_And… what else? There's more, isn't it?"_

"_Yes, yes. Ah… I'm really… really… glad… that Amita broke up with me."_

"_And why is that?" Colby's breath was so hot in Charlie's ear._

"_Because… because… because I want you! I want __you__ and __only you__ like this, not her! Damn it, Colby, just make I come already, 'cause I can't take this anymore…!"_

"Colby!" Charlie screamed when he woke up in the middle of the night, and noticed that he was hard in the real world. His skin, his clothes and the sheets of the bed were covered in sweat and the feeling the dream had put in his heart was still very alive.

So now, even knowing that he was going to do this consciously for the first time, Charlie ran to the bathroom and closed the door, just in case. Desperate, he lowered his boxers just enough and stroked his own cock like he had never really done it the way he should have. During the five seconds he lasted, all he could think about was Colby's hot breath, Colby's tender kisses, Colby's firm body and Colby's sweet, sweet hand.

When he came, he moaned and fell to the floor trying to catch his breath.

_How the hell did this happen? How did I get to the point to want to get off on the image and the feeling of Colby having sex with me on the couch?_

There was only an answer. The connection Colby and Charlie shared had become more than deep and it was affecting the mathematician's heart, making it crazy, and feeding his mind with thoughts he had never expected.

But this was ok. All the mess, the cum dripping down his fingers and on one of the bathroom's walls, was a good thing. While he was cleaning himself and that corner of the room, he felt himself so pleased and relaxed like he had never before.

He sat against the shower wall and remained there for half an hour, defining and embracing this new part of him, this discovery his mind had given him almost like a gift. He was embracing it, just what the Colby of his dreams had said he would do.

Even if he wasn't planning on confessing his feelings to Colby at all, he knew that he could still use his memory to satisfy his appetite for him whenever he wanted.

_And that means that… Amita was right. She was right about everything..._

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME.**_


	8. Just relax, everything's ok

**Title:** Just relax, everything's ok  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 8/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Don, Alan, David, Megan  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4  
**Summary:** Friday night dinner has just begun.

**Feeback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my beta, who, as always, helped me a lot._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 8: "Just relax, everything's ok"**

When Charlie woke up the next day, he was still in the bathroom.

And his father was standing in front of him, looking at him with worried eyes. "Are you ok, Charlie?"

"Um… what?" Charlie was so relaxed because of his dream of last night that he had barely heard Alan. He had fallen asleep half an hour after having his little release and making the last confession to himself.

"I asked you if you are ok," his father repeated, now sounding more serious. "I called you ten times."

"Why?"

"Because you have classes in the morning, and I thought that was something you were looking forward to."

Suddenly Charlie's eyes went open, and he realized where he was, what he had done in that place in the middle of the night, and who was now standing there. He stood up in shock and desperately studied every part of the bathroom, every last corner that still could be the testimony of his behavior.

"What are you doing? Are you looking for something in particular? Were you writing equations here in the bathroom walls again?" Alan asked, and to him, it sounded a lot like the movie called "A Beautiful Mind".

Then, and only then, Charlie realized that he had been acting crazy, so he thought about a way to get out of this embarrassing situation. "Something like that, dad, but not as exaggerated. Would you mind telling me how's the weather like today?"

With that, Charlie got what he wanted: that his father would approach a little window that was in the bathroom to watch the sky. "Well, it's a beautiful day, Charlie. Good for giving an amazing class," Alan joked, and while he talked, Charlie threw a comb to the floor, behind the sink.

"I found it," Charlie said, and he made it look like he just found the comb there, like if it was the thing he was looking for so desperately. He felt so relieved when his father just look at his sweaty clothes and his hair, all in knots, and just shook his head.

"It's going to take you a while to get cleaned up, son. And you should hurry up. It's almost 10 o'clock."

"Ten o clock?!" Charlie repeated in shock.

"Yeah. Why do you think I kept calling you? You're over an hour late for your class.

Then Alan left the room and went to make his youngest son a cup of coffee, knowing that he wouldn't be able to waste time preparing it himself. When Charlie felt himself alone again, he just took a deep breath and looked around. The comb was still in his hand.

_My god, I have become an adolescent again. Here I am, trying to hide my twisted sexual desires from my family. _

Then he observed the fact that the bathroom was a mess. Even if he had cleaned what was necessary last night, the towel was on the floor (thank god the stains were at the bottom) and the three-parts mirror was open.

_I was so out of control after that dream. I couldn't stop. It is almost… embarrassing._

He had said to himself "almost" embarrassing because he had already accepted what was happening to him. Still, he needed to repeat it in his head several times.

_I like Agent Colby Granger. I like him a lot. Yes, I like him… romantically speaking._

Charlie remembered a few seconds of the dream, and had to stop his mind from going forward and remembering the rest

_Stop trembling, you idiot. 'Cause if you don't, everybody's going to find out. And today is not a good day to be obvious, since Megan's going to be here… if she calls to confirm it. Damn… Colby's going to be here, too._

He panicked. How was he going to react when he saw the agent, now that he was completely aware that he cared too much for him, that he lusted after him?

_Nothing's gonna happen. Breathe._

So he tried to live a normal day. He went to CalSci and gave his usual classes. But every time he passed by someone who was close to Amita, he could remember exactly what he had experienced in his last dream.

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And he wasn't the only one that was nervous. Colby spent the whole day distracted thinking about the best words to say to Charlie. Megan hadn't come in to work today (it was her free day) and Larry hadn't passed by yet either, but Colby was sure that one of them would have called Charlie to confirm her presence at the Eppes' house that night.

"Hey, how's your brother?" Colby asked Don when he had the chance.

_Just checking what attitude I'll have to deal with tonight. I'm just trying to anticipate the conditions of the territory I'll be in. But this is worse than doing that exact same thing in Afghanistan, I can tell._

Don didn't suspect about Colby's question because he had always cared a lot about Charlie. While organizing some papers and walking around the office, Don answered, "To tell you the truth, he's acting weird. He said that he did something terrible to Amita, and that it's why she wants to leave."

"What did he do?"

"I don't know, that's the point. He doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe if you could… you know…"

"He actually invited me to come over tonight."

Don's smile caught Colby by surprise. "Good, good. You will tell me what you find out, whatever it is, won't you, Granger?"

"Um… sure. Sure, Don."

"Ok. I'm counting on you."

Then Don left the office and went to the rest room. Colby just stood in the middle of the cubicles, trying to find out a way to please Don without betraying Charlie.

_I have to give Don something, because after all, he's my boss and he's Charlie's brother. But on the other hand, if Charlie doesn't want him to know about his problems with Amita, who am I to reveal them? This is not going to be easy._

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"Colby. It's almost eight. Shouldn't you be going to meet Charlie?" David asked his friend when he saw his own watch. Everybody else seemed to have already gone home.

"Yeah… yeah," Colby responded, very nervous, because he hadn't found a good lie to tell Don about the cause of Charlie's strange behavior, since he didn't want to betray him by telling the truth, whatever that was. "Bye."

He took his stuff and left the FBI without saying one more word. When he knocked at the Eppes' house door, he was received by a very elegant Don.

"Don, are you going out?" he dared to ask, although he already knew the answer.

"Oh, yeah. I arranged something… just to give you two guys some privacy. So you can get from him the big secret," Don said in a whisper, looking back, just in case someone had the intention to come to the living room. "Come in, Granger. I was just leaving" the agent added, now speaking loudly.

Alan got out of the kitchen and approached them. He shook Colby's hand and said that there was cold pizza in the refrigerator. "I said Charlie that I could cook something for you two, since he's been so busy lately, but he said he would do it. I wouldn't count on it, though. He's been working in the solarium all afternoon."

Remembering that his son had slept in the bathroom last night, Alan called Charlie's name. There was no answer.

"I'll go for him. Just wait here," Don promised, and went upstairs. He found Charlie in the solarium, like his father had said. "Charlie, Colby's here."

The mathematician's eyes went wide open and he involuntarily broke the chalk pen he had been using to build an incredibly complex algorithm in the blackboard. He turned around, slowly and trembling, and looked at his brother.

Don couldn't hold himself. "Damn, you look worse than yesterday!"

"Really? Like I was going to pass out at any second?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe it's because I am."

"Oh, c'mon, Chuck. It's just Colby, you like Colby. I've seen you two help each other so much that I know that you will get along again, and that it's going to be tonight. Just relax, everything's ok." Don patted Charlie on the shoulder and encouraged him to go downstairs and receive his guest.

So Charlie did it. When he got to the living room, his father had gone to the kitchen again. Every step he made towards Colby was pure torture. And when he shook the agent's hand, he felt like some kind of energy was passing from Colby's body to his own arm. At the same time he noticed that his own jaw was clenching because of the tension. But Charlie also knew that he had this weird, hot sensation in his stomach, like he was actually enjoying this encounter, like he could use it for later to satisfy his secret desires. Like this would be food for his fantasies.

Charlie was glad that Don wasn't going to be there. He didn't need anyone who knew him well to be present that night, just in case he couldn't play the cool-friend card and let some kind of information slip out of his head. The mathematician still remembered perfectly that last night he had been about to tell his brother about the feelings he had for Colby.

"Ok, I'm leaving," Don announced, and took a last look to his final appearance in the mirror that was beside the door. "Bye, guys, I hope that any issue there is between you two can be put to an end; a connection like the one you share isn't something easy to find at all," he added, smiling, and then yelled "Dad, did you want a ride?"

Alan came out of the kitchen with a bag and a jacket. "Yeah, Donnie. I'm coming."

"Where are you going, again?" Charlie asked, because he had been trying so hard to not think about Colby that afternoon, to get him out of his head by writing equations (something that hadn't helped him at all), that he had forgotten what his father was going to do that night.

"I'm going to my new night yoga class. I'm starting it again. I need to stretch out, you know? A little exercise is never a bad thing," Alan explained, and went towards the door. "Let's go, Donnie. Charlie, Colby, just remember the cold pizza."

"Dad, I said I would cook something," Charlie reminded him.

"Well, did you?"

"Um… no."

"Then I was right to mention you the cold pizza twice, just in case," Alan repeated, and got out of the house.

Don was laughing because of Charlie's offended face, but he said goodbye to his brother and then he glanced at the agent that was standing beside him. "Colby, you remember what we talked about today, don't you?"

"Yeah, Don. I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. Bye then."

So then the door was closed. Charlie and Colby remained in silence, listening to the sounds of Don and Alan getting inside the car. They started the engine. And the noise of it just faded very slowly.

There was still a few more seconds of silence. Colby was looking at every corner of the house, but wasn't really paying any attention. _Why the hell did Don put me in this situation? It's like if I had to decide between my personal life and my job._

Charlie was in front of him, his hands on his own hips, his eyes fixed on his shoes. He jumped in his place when Colby suddenly spoke.

"So… could I just leave my jacket somewhere?"

"Oh! Sure, sure. Just… let me…"

Colby handed Charlie his jacket, and the mathematician trembled when he felt the heat the fabric still radiated. _Why the hell am I acting like a freak? I'm not shy around him, I've never been. If I act different than usual, he's going to suspect something's happening. Megan's coming, anyway. _

"When is Megan going to show up?" Colby wanted to know, like he had read Charlie's thoughts.

"Um… I don't know. She didn't call to say when she would be here."

"But she was supposed to do it, she was supposed to call."

"Not necessarily. I assumed she was going to tell you at work, and that then you were going to tell me when you get here."

Colby just shook his head. He and Charlie looked at each other breathing hard, like if they were afraid of having to deal with this alone.

And Charlie freaked out.

_Ok, so maybe I do need a life coach. And I need it right now._

"I'm going to call her," he said, and ran to grab his cell phone. He dialed Megan's number and her voiced sounded very cheery. "Hello, Megan?"

"Oh, hi, Charlie. What's going on?"

"Um, it's just that… Colby and I are kind of expecting you to arrive at my house. Do you have any idea when you'll be able to get here?"

"Mmm. Charlie…"

"Yes?"

"I'm not going."

"_What?" _He yelled, in shock because this situation was pretty much the same that had appeared in his last dream.

Colby went towards him, because that reaction from Charlie got him by surprised. He assumed something bad had happened, probably to Megan. "What? What is it, what happened?" the agent asked, but Charlie was speaking again, and he didn't sound horrified anymore.

"Ok… no, really, it's ok. We'll be fine," the mathematician said, and then hung up. He turned around to look at Colby in the eye, and tried to calm down.

_Remember what Don said. Just relax. Everything's ok._

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME.**_


	9. So here we are, all alone the two of us

**Title:** So here we are, all alone the two of us  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 9/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby (alone, oh so alone…. :D )  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Colby's questions make Charlie confess his big secret.

**Feeback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 9: "So here we are, all alone the two of us"**

_Remember what Don said. Just relax. Everything's ok._

"Well… it seems like Megan's not coming, after all. She says it's better that we deal with our problems by ourselves," Charlie said, trying to sound as cool as he could.

"Ok… so here we are, all alone the two of us," Colby muttered, and he became nervous.

"Yeah. Just the two of us," the mathematician repeated, and the words kept hanging in the air just a few moments. But then he came back to reality, noticed that he was imagining Colby doing terrific things to him, and rapidly said, "Hey, do you want a beer?"

_Very smooth, even for me._

"Sure, why not? I didn't come here to do nothing, after all," Colby answered.

"Great. C'mon, let's go to the kitchen."

Trying to keep things normal, Charlie handed Colby a beer and took one for himself. He put the cold pizza in the microwave. Waiting for the device to reheat the food, they sat at the table and slowly sipped their drinks for a little while.

"Charlie, I'm sorry…" Colby finally muttered, putting his beer aside.

"For what?"

"For telling everybody about your fight with Amita."

_Please, forgive me. I had no right to spread out details of your personal life. Just don't be mad at me anymore. Talk to me, say whatever you want to me. I can take it all, as long as you don't spend any more time avoiding me._

"Oh… it's fine, everybody was going to know about it anyway. It wasn't exactly a private discussion, and besides, she works for the FBI too, so…" Charlie answered, trying to catch up. _So you thought I kept my distance from you because of the gossip. You don't know what I feel. Thank god._

"Well… if it wasn't the reason why you didn't say hello or goodbye to me, or the reason why you felt uncomfortable around me, then what is it?" Colby asked, and waited for an answer. _Tell me and I'll stop doing whatever it is that's bothering you. _

Surprisingly, Charlie gave him an amazingly warm smile. "I was acting weird, I have to admit. I don't know what happened to me. But now… I'm more than happy to have you here."

Colby choked and immediately sipped his beer because he felt like he was going to break if he looked directly at the mathematician. "I'm glad. So that's it?" he asked, trying to change the subject. _If he sees me sweating like this just because of that smile… if he gets to know what I feel… I'll be in serious trouble. And I'll be so fired. _

"Yeah."

"So I guess we're ok now."

"It wasn't so hard. It was very easy, actually."

"Again, the connection…"

"The famous connection everybody talks about… Do you think that it's true, that we have a special bond that makes our relationship stronger and deeper than the one most people share?"

The question was good. "Yes. Actually, I take it as something natural. I mean, we've been through a lot these last weeks."

Charlie's cheeks flushed a little. "You've helped so much…"

"The reporter case was what made us gather together… and then Amita's kidnapping. By the way, why did you break up with her? You can tell me if you want."

_I'm definitely not going to tell Don. I just want to support you if you're in pain because she left, even if it breaks my heart._

He felt Charlie's eyes on him, his smile there again, and shivered. Colby couldn't do anything but smile back, hypnotized with the intimacy that was in the ambience. There wasn't soft music playing, there weren't candles, there wasn't fine food and wine on the table.

The microwave just turned off with a beep. That made Charlie's expression change.

_What the hell am I doing, smiling at him like an idiot? I'm so close to getting caught._

He got up and took the food out of the microwave. He waved it to Colby and said "Ta-dah, reheated pizza."

"Delicious," Colby muttered, and went silent. _Damn, his face went cold. Did he see it on my eyes? Please, god, no. _"Thank you," he said when Charlie handed him a dish and silverware and offered him a piece of pizza. "It's good," he added when he started eating it.

Charlie ate the food two meters away from Colby, like if he didn't want to get close to him. "I'm glad you like it," he said taking another mouthful. The atmosphere had become completely awkward. But he remembered well Colby's last question. "I can't tell you why Amita broke up with me."

"Um… okay. I respect that."

However, Charlie didn't seem okay with his own decision of keeping the real reason of the fight to himself. _So what if I tell him something in general? He doesn't need to know every little detail. Besides, I haven't been able to talk about it with anyone. It wouldn't be too bad to ask for some kind of advice, without telling him he's the key to this whole situation. _"She found out I was interested in someone else."

"Wow. That's… bad," Colby responded, and felt his heart aching. Charlie had found a new woman. _She must be someone from CalSci, just as smart as him._ "She doesn't seem the type of woman to take extreme decisions like leaving the country just because his boyfriend doesn't love her anymore."

Charlie froze. _He doesn't believe me. I should have known. Why the hell did I start this conversation?_

"Charlie, what you did was something way more terrible than that," Colby said.

Now the mathematician just stood in the middle of the kitchen, wanting to escape from his own house, his own feelings and the look on the agent's eyes. "I… I…"

"I won't tell anyone," Colby stood up, went to where Charlie was and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't understand, I can't tell you, I didn't expect it myself and…"

"And…what else?"

That was it for Charlie. "Don't say 'and…' like you were expecting me to confess, please!"

"Why?"

"Because you make me remember the dream I had last night, and it's impossible for me to concentrate!" Charlie yelled, and covered his face with his hands. He looked so devastated that Colby put both hands in the mathematician's shoulders.

"You could tell me about your dream."

"No!" Charlie got away from Colby's arms and went to one of the corners of the kitchen room. "No."

"I don't get it! If you're dreaming with Amita making you confess about you being attracted to another woman, why can't you tell me?!" Colby yelled, because he was so tired of the fact that Charlie didn't let him help.

"It's not another woman!" _Oh god, I'm so screwed._

There was a minute of silence. When Charlie lifted his gaze, there was Colby standing in front of him, staring at him, with his hands on his hips. He looked astonished, but not horrified. "You're attracted… to someone who's not a woman."

Charlie didn't answer. He ran his hands through his hair, like he wanted to rip it out of his own body.

"Are you gay?" Colby asked.

"I don't know."

"But this person is a man."

Charlie nodded. _How did we get here, to this moment? I can't confess. I just can't. How could I be able to look at him afterwards?_

"Is it someone from the university?"

"No. But please, don't ask me…"

"Then it's someone from the FBI."

"Colby, just shut up!"

"Is it David, or Edgerton?!"

"Don't ask!"

"Well, I have to, because the only man that's left is me!"

That was the point of all the changes that had been popping out everywhere since three days ago. That was the reason for the weird behavior. That was the reason for everything that was going on.

When Charlie just stared at the agent in silence and his face tensed like it had never done before, Colby felt a joy in his heart that he had never experienced in his entire life. To find out what he had never imagined but hoped for so much, was the last thing he had expected to happen that night.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOME.**_


	10. This could ruin our entire lives

**Title:** This could ruin our entire lives  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 10/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** After a fight, Colby and Charlie make up their minds… at least for tonight.

**Feeback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 10: "This could ruin our entire lives"**

Colby blinked a few times and shifted his position, his heart pounding hard inside his chest. _This is really happening. I could have never guessed._ "Does your silence mean… what I think it means?" he had to ask, because he wanted to be 100 sure that he had understood well. "You're attracted… to _me_?"

Still in the corner of the kitchen, lying against the wall, Charlie didn't say a word.

_No. No. _

"Charlie, am I the reason why Amita broke up with you? Am I the reason why she wants to leave?" Colby continued.

_Please, say "yes". Please… say "yes"._

There was no answer. So Colby pushed a little further. "C'mon, there's no point in freaking out, I already know what you feel!"

That was the moment when Charlie's head started to spin and say very, _ver_y stupid things. He was freaking out, much worse than before. "It was supposed to be a secret!" he said, now getting mad.

"Charlie…"

"No one was supposed to know, especially you! Why did you do it, huh? Why did you push me? Were you trying to embarrass me? Because if you were, damn it, you got what you wanted!" Charlie was really pissed off. He had enjoyed playing with Colby's nearness, with his smiles, with the food for his thoughts before going to sleep. But dealing with the real thing was completely different. There would be consequences to his actions, and they couldn't be good for any of them. He wanted so badly to turn back time. He wished he wasn't such an idiot when it came to the personal relationships area. Why had he dared to talk about the break up with Colby? He was definitely insane, and a complete idiot, putting himself in such trouble.

"Yes, I got what I wanted," the agent muttered suddenly, and he sounded a little shy because Charlie was paying attention to every one of his words. "Because I… I got… a thing about you…"

"_Oh my god_, are you kidding me?" the mathematician yelled, feeling so frustrated and desperate to get out of this situation. _That is such a cruel joke. This is like another god damn dream that wants to make me crazier than I already am._

"I'm not, actually. I've been having these feelings… since the Bonnie Parks case… I haven't been able to get rid of them," Colby said, and paused. "That's why I supported you so much, that's why I came here, that's why I didn't leave when you said that Megan wasn't coming… I just wanted to make things go back to normal between us because I couldn't stand not being able to talk to you…"

Colby saw that Charlie's anger was decreasing. But still, there wasn't hope and affection in the mathematician's eyes. There was panic… and fear.

"I told you, I'm being serious here. I'm interested in you, too," the agent continued, trying to make the other man understand.

"Don't say that."

This answer caught Colby by surprise. He blinked a few times and tried to find a meaning to what Charlie was saying. "What? I thought… that you would be happy to know that your feelings are reciprocated."

"I am. But that doesn't mean that I could actually be with you."

Colby went cold. He grew mad at Charlie, and wanted to say something terrible to him, but he controlled himself. _Let's see what reasons you have. I bet they're not nearly good enough. _Colby watched the mathematician's face tense, like if all the romanticism had faded and couldn't come up again that night.

"I'm sorry. I'm… so sorry. It's not that I don't want you… because I do, I really do," Charlie whispered, like it was something that was coming from the bottom of his heart. "But… this could ruin our entire lives."

That was so true. Colby spent some seconds thinking about it. He had forgotten about that issue since Charlie had confessed; but now he could see the risks that a potential relationship between the two of them could mean. "I'm aware of the problems we might have. And yet, I…," Colby said, and stopped.

There was something in the way Charlie was looking at the agent, his pupils gazing at all the curves of his face, like a fragile stone about to break. So Colby went for it. He came to Charlie's corner and took his face between his hands. He could see the mathematician's face starting to tense even more, but he could also notice that Charlie wasn't resisting too much to this tender gesture.

Colby came closer and closer, and tried to kiss those soft lips.

He was pushed away by the person he cared the most.

"Charlie, I know that you're scared, but we could keep this as a secret…"

"I'm not good at keeping secrets, like you could tell by yourself tonight. I really, really can't do this…"

"Why? You and I, we feel the same, don't you see? What's wrong with doing what we both want…? No one has to know…"

"It's just not ok!" Charlie yelled, and got away from Colby's arms. He went to the center of the kitchen, far away. His curls were almost covering his sad, desperate eyes. "Being with you… could mess up my career… completely. It could make the FBI cut me out of Don's work. And yeah, what about Don? What about my father? What will they think of me…?"

"If they care about you, they'll understand…"

"I don't know about that. I don't think they could ever expect me to like another guy."

"Yet, they could get used to it…"

"There are just too many variables that could be transformed by your presence in my life as a lover. And it was ok in my head, even in my dreams, even in the middle of the night when I needed some release. But in real life… it's just not acceptable… at least to me."

"You're being totally ridiculous."

"And you're being too optimistic. You could be fired, 'because the FBI doesn't allow gay agents. I can't believe you're not thinking about that. You're not seeing the potential consequences of the consummation of this twisted fantasy…"

"It's not a twisted fantasy to me!"

Colby had lost control. How dared Charlie to do this to him? _You just let me come here, and throw a bomb on me. And now tell me to back off. But I know you want this, I know that you won't be able to say "no" to me. You won't, given that look on your face, that smile of yours I treasure and that I'm sure I can make appear again on your lips. This is not something shallow. Not you, not me, will be capable of stopping this damn explosion of feelings. _

"I didn't mean to yell at you, Charlie," Colby apologized, and put a hand on his eyes, scrubbed them and tried to focus. "But I hate that you treat me like I didn't know what I feel for you. I'm sure that I want to… be with you, in any way I can. Is that so bad?"

"You're not getting the point, and I'm trying to express myself the best way I can. Why do you keep trying to convince me? I'm not putting my life at risk because of a fantasy, and that's it. But it doesn't mean I don't care about you as a friend..."

"You know? You're right. I don't get you." _That's it. You wanted me to get really mad? I'm not usually like that at all. But you, with your little stupid speech, you got it. _

There was an awkward moment in which they just stood in place, organizing their thoughts.

"I need to sleep. I have to work on some algorithms tomorrow. They're important," Charlie suddenly said, like if it was some kind of statement.

"No, Charlie. This is more important than that, and you know it."

"I need to work to clear my head."

"Bullshit. When something like this happens, you can't do it. I've seen it."

That seemed to shut Charlie up. The mathematician knew very well that the Colby thing had been making him impossible to concentrate on his math projects. But still, he muttered, "You need to go, anyway. Colby, this conversation is not going anywhere. Nothing's left to discuss here."

"Nothing's left…? Ok, I'll tell you this. I'm the one who's not going anywhere tonight."

Charlie's eyes went wide open. "What? You can't stay. I don't want to you to, I said have to work…"

"Well, try to stop me."

Of course, Charlie knew there was no way he could take Colby down and make him leave. So he just accepted the fact that he would have to share his house with the man he was attracted to but refused to have a relationship with. "Fine, do what you want."

Astonished, Colby saw Charlie wash the dishes, take out the garbage, close the house's doors and windows. Then the agent followed the mathematician to his room; but when Charlie stood at the doorframe with a warning look, Colby just went back downstairs and crashed on the Eppes' couch.

VVVVVV

Charlie laid down on his bed in his t-shirt and sweatpants, just in case Colby had the idea of getting into the room and play with him like he did in his dreams. He put his stuff into his bed, his laptop and his papers, just like the night before, and he had to admit once again that there was no point trying to work.

_He likes me back. He actually likes me back. _

There was an extra pillow near to him, and he grabbed it at put it against his heart. He just needed some kind of matter to pass the energy he had gotten from Colby's body, Colby's words and Colby's hands.

Shyly, Charlie touched his own face, and he still could feel the agent's warm touch on his cheeks. _I turned him down two seconds after he confessed me that he felt the same I did. Having something with him would mean so much trouble for both of us… but I was so there with him when he said…_

He remembered Colby's voice saying "I'm aware of the problems we might have. And yet…" After those words, they had almost kissed.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Charlie muttered, cursing himself. _He must be so mad at me. But why didn't he leave? Maybe if I would go downstairs and… yes, I have to try to make him forgive me._

So Charlie got up and went downstairs, making a little too much noise, but he found Colby already asleep. The agent was lying on the couch, one head under his head, the other grabbing his own jacket, the one he had passed earlier to Charlie. Colby had obviously got it back to cover himself because it was a little cold.

_He sleeps so quietly. I could stare at him forever._

He grabbed the jacket and sweetly covered Colby's body a little more with it. Charlie wanted to talk to him now, but he didn't want to interrupt the agent's dreams.

_Hopefully, he's dreaming about me finally saying I want to be with him. Something I will definitely do tomorrow morning._

After watching Colby sleep a little while longer, Charlie went upstairs and wrapped himself in the sheets of his own bed. There, he got lost in the feeling of the absence of the warm body and the beautiful personality that was lying so close and yet so far from him; and then, suddenly, thinking about what would be Colby's reaction in the morning, Charlie fell asleep.

VVVVVV

The noises from Charlie's almost silent steps going upstairs made Colby wake up. He watched the mathematician's feet disappear at the top of the ladder and then he sat up on the coach, rubbing his face. Colby tried to figure out what Charlie had been doing in the living room.

_Why did he come here? Did he change his mind? Probably… not. Yeah, he must have come here to see if he could still convince me to leave._

Colby started to think that maybe it would be for the best to leave Charlie alone that night so he could process what had happened. _But I can't force him to do anything. I would never do that. I cared about him too much._

So the agent went upstairs, trying to not wake up Charlie, and when he got to the room, the mathematician was snoring softly. He needed to see him one more time before leaving the house. Colby reached for Charlie's hair and caressed the curls that still covered his forehead.

But that made Charlie jump in his bed. He suddenly woke up and found Colby standing in front of him. The mathematician couldn't say a word. He had planned telling Colby about his decision in the morning, not now, after a terrible fight, when they were alone in the house, in his room…, with the sheets of the bed in a mess. He froze, thinking about what could happen there if he said the right words.

However, Colby was the first to speak. "I'm going home, Charlie. You don't have to say anything. It's ok. If you don't want to give this a chance, I respect your decision. Just remember that I won't stop feeling what I feel, no matter how much you want me to."

Then Colby turned around and went downstairs. Charlie remained in his bed for one more moment and then ran like a crazy man until he found the agent walking towards the door.

"Colby…"

Colby looked at him and waved his hand. "Charlie, it's fine. I won't stop being your friend, ever, because I care about you too much. And I won't tell anyone about what happened here, I promise. This stays between you and me."

Charlie watched him go towards the door and open it. "Wait," he said when the agent was outside of the house. The mathematician reached for one of Colby's shirtsleeves and grabbed it. "Don't go."

There, there was that heavy look in Charlie's eyes that always made Colby tremble. The only thing that was left was his warm, tender smile. It wasn't missed much, though. It had been replaced by Charlie's warm skin, making the fabric of his shirt burn, barely touching Colby's hand.

The tone of the words "Don 't go" that Charlie had pronounced had been heart-breaking. Colby could never say no to that, he wanted Charlie so much that he couldn't refuse to stay now.

So Colby just went with it. He knew he was weak, that he was being forced to reconsider his decision to go home and leave it all behind. But he was so proud to get that look from the special someone he had been longing for since several weeks ago.

He followed Charlie's command to get to the house again. There was a solid, burning intention in the way Charlie tugged slowly at his sleeve, not letting him go. There was something in the air that made him know that things would be completely different once he crossed the threshold again.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE.**_


	11. Experimental nearness

**Title:** Experimental nearness  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 11/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby  
**Rating:** M

**Warnings: Explicit sexual encounter. If you are not into this kind of stuff, please be careful.**  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Colby makes Charlie stop thinking for one night.

**Feeback:** It's love. Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my lovely beta._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 11: "Experimental nearness"**

"Don't go," Charlie repeated while tugging gently at Colby's shirtsleeve. He made the agent enter the house again, and slowly closed the door.

Colby spent some time just looking at the mathematician, enjoying in silence those chocolate-brown eyes. It was like Charlie was finally giving in, after a few hours of struggle. Charlie didn't let go his sleeve and took the agent to the living room one more time.

"I'm sorry…" Charlie whispered, "I'm not used having this kind of feelings for someone… and the fact that you are a man… it just freaks me out every time…" Charlie's voice somehow sounded reassuring, and trembled a little. He was looking at Colby through lowered lashes.

"I know. It feels new and scary to me too… But… there's something here… you know, when we're together."

"Yeah, there's definitely something."

"And every time I talk to you, or see you, or even think about you… I can feel it."

"Like an echo of that energy."

"Exactly."

Colby was fascinated by the idea of the connection they share, while Charlie watched him in amusement. They went silent for a moment and suddenly found themselves smiling to each other tenderly, like they hadn't argued at all that night.

Colby said, "So… what does this mean? I don't want to push you, but I have feelings for you too, and this confusion of yours is killing me. You have to make a decision."

"I know."

"First you tell me you like me, then you turn me down, now you take me here again, like you're trying to seduce me…"

"I've been an idiot, I'm very aware of that. But I've made that decision you're talking about…"

Colby swallowed, hoping it was what he wanted so much. He just waited, his heart racing inside his chest.

And Charlie spoke. Every word he said seemed to extend in time, like they were in slow motion. "I want you to be here, with me. I don't want you to go home, not right now, not ever. I…," Charlie swallowed now before continuing, because his knees were weak, "I want you to spend the night with me."

Beautiful. Just beautiful. That was the only one word that could describe the way Charlie had pronounced his decision. But still, Colby didn't react; he remained in silence and closed his eyes.

The mathematician started to worry about that. "Colby, are you ok? Why did you close your eyes? You seem to be in pain…"

"I'm just… holding myself… from reaching for you and kissing you. It's hard, but I don't have any idea if you're ready for that yet…" Colby explained, but Charlie cut him off.

"I don't know if I'm ready. But I know I want to do it… right now… because I don't want to keep thinking. If I do, my brain will stop me again from doing what I desire the most."

Now Colby had opened his eyes, and was looking at the mathematician like if he was sweetly hypnotized by those confessions.

"Colby, it's all right. I won't ask you to do anything if you're mad at me for what I said to you before…"

And then Colby reached for him and kissed him, cupping his face. That first butterfly kiss broke the two of them in pieces. When the agent separated a little bit, he watched Charlie breathing hard, his eyes still closed, his cheeks flushed, his lips a little swollen.

"Charlie…"

Charlie took Colby's face between his hands, and still not opening his eyes, he pressed their foreheads together and whispered, "Don't say anything. Don't stop… Don't let me think. I don't want to think. I just… want… to feel you all around me, everywhere... I want to know for sure what this connection means…"

After saying those desperate words, the mathematician opened his eyes, and Colby thought he had never looked like this, like he wasn't a professional at all. He was just standing there, waiting for someone to love him. Waiting for him.

"We could… we could go upstairs," Charlie muttered, and the only sound he heard when he stopped was Colby's breathing and the living room clock ticking.

"Are you…?" the agent started to ask, and the question was 'Are you sure?', but Charlie had shook his head, like he meant he didn't want Colby to ask him that, just in case he freaked out again. "Yeah, Charlie. If you want to do this, and you want it to be in your room, it's more than ok with me… and I promise… I'll do everything I can to make your head spin and forget about your job, your fears and the rest of the world."

Next thing Colby felt was Charlie's lips on his, a little stronger, but still sweet, like he was incredibly thankful for that promise and like he was encouraging him to continue. Then Charlie took Colby's hand and led him upstairs, to his room, in complete silence, not smiling anymore at all, just looking at the agent with warm and wanton eyes.

When they got to the room, Charlie was still holding Colby's hand, caressing it slowly, like if he didn't know how to begin what he knew was coming. He seemed shy, but not too nervous anymore. He had played all his cards, there were no more secrets he needed to keep.

"Colby, I want you to know… that I've never done this before… not with a man," Charlie whispered, trying to guess if Colby would have had sex with a male partner before.

Colby cupped his face and very close to his nose responded "You don't have to worry. I'm… pretty much in the same situation."

That's when Charlie relaxed. They were both amateurs, so there would not be any comparisons there. Just pure and true feelings, nothing else. "Then… what do you prefer…?" he wanted to know, not daring to take the first step now that they were in _the_ situation.

"I could start kissing you… and we could go slow from there," Colby suggested, and his breath was burning Charlie's eyes. "See what happens… I know that whatever it is, it will be amazing."

"I… I…" Charlie started to say, and then saw Colby's green eyes heavy on his, and an electric energy ran through his body. "Yeah. Just kiss me and well see if…"

"I'll guide you through this, I've got a pretty good intuition… so, please, just trust me."

So Colby leaned and kissed Charlie tenderly on the lips, because he wanted to take the time to enjoy this, to admire and absorb the feel and the image of Charlie there, giving in to him completely.

They put their arms around each other very slowly, like they were made of glass. They were gently caressing each other's bodies trying to feel the connection they shared.

When Charlie's legs hit the bed, he and Colby separated a little, still holding each other. When Colby looked at the bed, with all the sheets in a mess, he felt the rush to lay Charlie on it and provide him all the pleasure he had never had with any other human being. He didn't have to wait long. Charlie himself sat on the bed looking at him,. Both of them remained in silence for a moment.

The agent felt his blood going to his cock when Charlie slowly spread his legs. It was such a sexy image: Charlie looking up at him, just waiting. But it was too much for Colby when the mathematician lay on his back on the bed and spread his legs even more, never taking his eyes off of Colby.

It was like Charlie was saying to him, "I'm offering myself to you. Please, take control of this. Take control of my thoughts, take control of my body, it's what I have wanted for so long…"

So Colby ran his palms up and down Charlie's legs, and saw him shiver. It was the rough sensation of a male body that was making the mathematician's start to tremble.

Charlie had his sweatpants on, though. Colby rolled them down Charlie's legs, and while he did it, he could see him breathing heavily, his chest going up and down, the arousal starting to form a bulge in his underwear, without even being touched in that right area.

Colby took his time to get off his own shoes, and gazed down at Charlie. Then he lay down and firmly pressed his body to his lover's. Their flesh felt like burning, even through several layers of clothes. Charlie was really flushed now, and Colby could feel his erection pushing against his, making them both start to want more, and now. They both felt a very heavy desire to kiss each other. However, they wouldn't do it like they did before. Colby caressed Charlie's face and Charlie ran his fingers through Colby's hair, making it spiky.

And slowly, very slowly, the agent leaned down even more, barely opening his mouth, waiting for a response. He got it, way hotter than he expected. Charlie's mouth opened a little and just like that, met his.

There was no kiss yet. This was a sexy teasing game. Charlie's tongue made Colby's lips come apart and then gently ravished every corner of his mouth. Colby just went with it, a little surprised, but definitely more aroused than before.

But the kiss finally came, and it was too deep from the very beginning. To kiss a man, to be with a man, was so different from being with a woman. To caress Charlie's body was more solid and reassuring than anything. And to lick Charlie's lips, to explore his mouth, was so much more… _hotter_. So damn hot that Colby's heart almost ached.

And then there were Charlie's legs climbing Colby's body and molding around his hips…, and after that, hard solid thrusts that made Colby moan softly.

He pulled away from the kiss immediately, kept himself in a distance of only an inch from Charlie's now swollen lips, and watched him tighten the grip on his hair. Charlie hadn't stop thrusting up for a moment. And he kept doing it, but now he was looking at Colby's reaction to see him like this.

The agent's reaction caught Charlie by surprise. Colby rapidly took off Charlie's t-shirt and throw it away. Then he positioned himself between Charlie's legs and gave him a tender kiss on the corner of his mouth.

It was almost like Charlie's dream. It was like all the signs had been there, surrounded him, telling him that this was actually going to happen. But nothing could have let Charlie know that the real representation would be such an incredible turn-on.

Then Colby ran his palm over Charlie's chest, but didn't touch his nipples. This was a remarkable difference from the dream. Why wasn't he paying any attention to that part of Charlie's body…?

Charlie whimpered when Colby licked his right nipple. The tip of his tongue made Charlie shiver, made his body beg for more.

And Colby was very willing to give it to him. Just like in the dream, he slipped a hand inside the mathematician's boxers and slowly pumped his stiff cock. Charlie closed his eyes, threw his head back, arched his back and moaned deeply.

Colby couldn't resist gazing at him, and when he did, he saw Charlie's throat swallowing. It was asking to be ravished right now. So the agent used lips and tongue to give it proper treatment… and almost immediately, Charlie started to thrust into Colby's palm. Colby also felt Charlie's fingers over his, urging him to stroke him faster and rougher, begging him for it.

Charlie was desperate to fulfill the desire the dream had put in his mind for the entire day. He wanted Colby to please him in every single way, and this was probably the first one of thousands he was hoping for.

He moaned loudly when Colby's hand sped up and stroked his whole length. Surprisingly, Charlie flushed even more when he knew that his cock was leaking, and that Colby was sweetly smearing the precum up and down his shaft. This was too much. Too much of a connection. Too deep, to strong, to intimate to resist.

He needed to breathe out the arousal, so he started thrusting harder into Colby's hand, which insisted with its caresses, wanting Charlie to have his release. After four more thrusts, the mathematician came with a silent scream, not wanting to wake up the neighbors. He felt Colby's hand now caressing him slowly, trying to calm him down.

Charlie had never had an orgasm because of a man before. In fact, he had never had such a scorching orgasm in his life.

When Charlie turned his head he found a very flushed Colby looking down at him with such affection. The agent was admiring him, memorizing the image of him like this, so real and so smoking hot.

But Colby was the one that had give Charlie such pleasure, and even if Charlie was exhausted from the last round, he didn't have a doubt he wanted another one for Colby's happiness. A rush to do terrific things to the agent brought the energy back to Charlie and made him quickly get up and take Colby by his still buttoned shirt.

A desperate mathematician opened it, and the buttons went flying everywhere, landing on the bed, like a proof of how needy there were for each other right now.

Colby didn't have much choice but to let Charlie take off his clothes until he was completely naked. Not that he would have refused, though. Suddenly, Charlie had become a sexual being and had almost ripped his clothes off. And that was the hottest thing to watch: your lover showing you how much he wants you by trying to get as close to you as he can.

Charlie looked Colby in the eye… he wanted to treasure this moment forever. Nothing had been as intense as this encounter, ever. They were both naked, sweaty, with their hair in a mess, heavy eyes on each other, having sex on Charlie's bed.

There was one more thing Charlie needed to do before passing out because of all this beauty he had in the palm of his hand, in front of his eyes. He turned around Colby's body until the agent had his chest against the sheets. Colby didn't know where the hell Charlie had got the energy to make him go that position. But more than anything, he wondered if Charlie wasn't planning on doing something he could regret later.

"Hey… um… we don't have to do this yet, Charlie…" Colby muttered, because he didn't want to make Charlie feel like he was expecting to get to the ultimate climax that night. Although of course, it would be more than welcome. "It's ok to go slow…"

However, he couldn't end his warning, because Charlie caressed his neck and breathed into his hear, saying "Please, Colby. Please, let me do this…please…"

The three "please" were not necessary at all. Charlie's tone was so intimate and desperate, begging Colby to allow him to be inside him, that there was no way for the agent to say "no" to it.

"Yeah, ok… please… do it," Colby whispered, lost in Charlie's heavy breath on his ear. Then the absence of it made him feel the cold of the night. He looked at the pillow he had put under his head to bury his face in it afterwards, just in case. For a few seconds, he only heard Charlie getting something out of under the bed, from a box with contents he could only imagine.

He heard the lube pot being opened and tossed aside, on the nightstand. That meant that Charlie already had slicked his fingers in it, and…

Oh, god. This was like a jolt of life to Colby's body. Just the feeling of the fingers of his lover spreading his cheeks, slipping inside, while Charlie's tongue licked little spots of his back, made him gasp like a mad man.

When Charlie found something a little more solid, he knew what it could be. Not that he had had his own prostate stimulated before, but he had had biology a long time ago and there were some things he remembered pretty well.

He would have to guess how to do it right, though. He made several attempts to hit that sweet spot, and every one of them dragged out a gasp from Colby. When the agent finally jumped on the bed in shock, Charlie knew that was the right way to give him the most incredible pleasure. So he hit Colby's prostate again and again and again, until he knew he couldn't take it anymore. Charlie's cock was erect again, filled with blood like he hadn't had an orgasm like a minute before, and he really couldn't understand how that had never happened with any woman he had been with before.

He had to enjoy it as long as he could. He took his fingers out of Colby's body and positioned himself. He took a firm grip on his lover's hips, guided himself… and then he was inside.

Colby was so damn hot Charlie wanted to stay just like this forever. But then he felt the agent's hips thrusting backwards, eager to have him deeper. So Charlie pulled out and pushed in again, and this time Colby relaxed to have him so close and prepared to be fucked.

Because this was their new reality. They had been waiting to get along that night, and they had done it. They had ending up with Charlie fucking Colby in his bed after a confession, a fight and mutual understanding.

Without taking his eyes of Colby's face, turned to the side, his mouth open, his eyes barely closed, Charlie thrust deep and slow, wanting to remember every single moment of their first time. He wasn't a guy to go straight to the sex after a date, and he was pretty sure that Colby wasn't that kind of guy either. But all the events had led them both here, and sometimes when things happen naturally, it's because they're supposed to be that way.

Colby started to thrust back, wanting to take Charlie even deeper, and this made the mathematician go completely wild. He pushed and pushed and pushed until he felt himself coming all over again inside his lover. He reached for Colby's cock to help him have his release and found that he already had his hand there and was working his length roughly. Between lowered lashes and soft moans, Charlie watched a sweaty and flushed Colby pump his own cock until he came spilling himself over his palm.

Colby laid his hand on the sheets, coming down from his orgasm, not aware of Charlie's gaze on his entire trembling body.

But he had to open his eyes when suddenly his lover grabbed his hand and licked his cum covered fingers. The image of such a sexual Charlie turned him on once more, so he turned around and he kissed the mathematician, who swirled his tongue inside Colby's mouth, eager to share the flavor.

It was so much better than anything they had done before. They embraced a process of experimental nearness that none of them could have imagined a few hours before.

When they experienced their connection on Friday night, it was like the world was being torn apart by the force of it. They didn't know that a phone call would define the implications of their tender, beautiful, fantastically hot love-making.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE.**_


	12. Voices on the speaker phone

**Title:** Voices on the speaker phone  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 12/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Megan, Larry, Don, Alan  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Amita's kidnapper escaped from jail. Megan calls Charlie and this leads to a discovery that will change the way the story goes. :)

**Feeback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 12: "Voices on the speaker phone"**

"Hey, Megan!" Don yelled when he saw the female agent seated next to Larry at a table outside a cheap restaurant.

"Don!" Megan responded and waved her hand at Don. She approached the car and saw that Alan was in the passenger's seat. She said hello to him and then continued speaking to Don. "Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked Don.

"Sure."

"Charlie and Colby. How were they when they met tonight?"

"What do you mean? You knew Colby was coming over?"

"Yeah, I was supposed to be there. I was going to be some kind of coach between them."

Don took a glance at Larry, who was waiting at the table, looking at the stars and probably mumbling their names to himself. "Well, you changed your plans, obviously."

"Yeah, I thought it would be better for them to handle this by themselves, you know? They're adults, and they've been getting closer these last months."

"I think you're right…" Don muttered, and went silent. He was thinking about the little awkwardness that Colby showed when Don had reminded him of the promise to tell him Charlie's big secret regarding Amita. "Oh, the answer to your question is… they were… weird, you know. But it's normal, they haven't been speaking lately."

"Oh, I hope everything turns out to be ok. They have become each other's partners, as I see it."

"I think that too. That's why I left. I wanted to give them some space, too."

Alan interrupted him, and smiling kindly, he said, "And because he had a 'hot' date… Is that the way you kids say it these days?"

"Yes, that's exactly the word, Mr. Eppes," Megan nodded, laughing and leaning against the car.

"Of course, I'm not going to be there. I'm going to night yoga class," Alan explained.

"That's fantastic! Those kinds of oriental practices are amazing. I'm into _krav maga_ myself. It's a little rougher than yoga, though."

"Well, it makes me feel like I've taken ten years out of my shoulders for a whole day."

"Exactly, that's one of the many benefits!"

"And it's great for the skin... You know, the other day I saw this documentary about _karate_…"

"Hey, guys, time out!" Don suddenly said, and he looked a little annoyed. "Remember someone needs to be in a fancy restaurant outside town at nine o'clock."

With that, Alan went silent. The hope of having grandchildren before he was too old was stronger than ever, but again, that happened every time Don claimed he had met a new woman.

Don said goodbye to Megan, and then pointed at Larry and muttered "Hey, is he ok? He seems a little…"

"In his own world, I know," she responded, looking at his lover counting the stars and writing some kind of map on a napkin. "But yeah, he's all right." She smiled and waved her hand to Don, who smiled back and put the vehicle in movement again.

Megan returned to her table and sat beside Larry.

"Is everything ok?" he wanted to know.

"Yes, everything's fine… Don's going to a date, Alan's going to yoga class and Charlie and Colby are all alone in the house…"

"Oh, yeah… I wonder if there's calm hovering over the Eppes residence…"

"Don said they were acting awkward but not fighting when he left."

Larry joined the fingers of his hands and his face went worried. He didn't say anything.

"What is it, Larry? Is it the stars in your map napkin that don't fit the ones in the sky?" she joked, sipping an orange juice she had asked for earlier.

"No, not really. The starts are exactly the way I expected them to be in their eternal journal through the vault of heaven. It's Charles that I'm worried about."

"Why?"

"I was just considering the way he acted when this meeting with Colby was suggested, he might have a reaction that can't be characterized as a peaceful one."

"But you said that finally he accepted to meet him."

"Yeah… but Charles has been acting weird lately. At this point, I guess we should consider all the possibilities."

"Do you think I was wrong to leave them alone?" Megan asked a little surprised that Larry seemed to not agree with her decision, even when he seemed to the last time they had talked about it.

"Not at all. I actually think it was the best thing to do, like I told you yesterday when we met outside the FBI. But… I have my doubts that this is going to end well tonight…"

"Well, we'll get to know tomorrow, probably."

"Yeah, I guess we will."

Then the conversation turned into some kind of dissertation about multi-star systems. It was so fascinating for Megan to listen to Larry exposing his deeper thoughts and points of view about the latest theories. And it was so sweet and cute to hear him comparing her to some of the most beautiful constellations in the sky.

However, the display of such interesting topics was interrupted by a phone call. When it was about eleven o'clock, Megan's phone rang, and she had to take the call, because it was Don who wanted to speak with her.

"Don?"

"Hey, Megan…"

"What's going on? Didn't you have a date?"

"Yeah, but I'm getting into the car right now. David just called me. Amita's kidnapper has escaped from jail."

"_What?"_

"Yes, it's what you've just heard. His guards say that he's been rambling about getting to destroy the most important thing in Amita's life."

"Oh god, that means he could be going after her _and_ Charlie! Even if she has just broken up with him, psychologically, he's still the person she cares the most about!"

"I know, that's what I thought, too. I'm going to find Amita right now and then I'm taking her to the house. I want everybody to gather together there."

"Of course. See you in half an hour."

Megan hung up and started taking her stuff. She explained to Larry what Don had said, and the physicist became utterly worried.

"I'm going with you," he claimed.

"I don't think it's necessary. I don't want you to be in the middle of a situation, if there's any."

Larry's face was so tense, and his eyes just screamed, _Please, let me see if Charles is ok_, so Megan thought about it for a few seconds and finally muttered a not very sure "Ok."

They took a cab and while they were going to the Eppes' residence, Megan dialed Charlie's number on her cell phone to check if everything was ok there and to inform him that Don, Larry and she were arriving.

With her eyes fixed on Larry's, she waited for an answer, but all she heard was incoherent words.

VVVVVVVVVVVV

Charlie and Colby were kissing fervently on the bed when Charlie's cell phone rang. Even if he was completely concentrated on the person pressing against his body, he instinctively tried to grab the device.

"Don't answer," Colby muttered, kissing Charlie's ear.

"Mmm… I… I have to…"

"Why?" Colby's voice sounded disappointed, so Charlie had to give me some explanations.

"It could… be Don," he muttered, and moaned when Colby softly caressed his back. "He could be calling… to say… that he's coming home… His dates usually… don't work anyway…"

It was a very good excuse. Colby took a deep breath and stopped with his demonstrations of affection. Charlie felt the arms around his back loosen and he reached again for his cell phone. He pressed the green button, accepting the incoming call.

"Hello?" he said, and he heard a familiar female voice.

"Is it Don?" Colby asked, on the bed behind him.

Charlie shook his head. "Megan," he explained, but before he had the chance to actually talk to her, Colby grabbed his hand to take him back to bed. The cell phone fell to the floor.

"Colby!" Charlie yelled, but he was laughing.

"Just… don't… move…" Colby whispered while he took Charlie's wrists and placed them together above the mathematician's head. Then he tenderly kissed Charlie and with that he earned his trust and his affection all over again.

VVVVVVVVV

Megan put the phone against her ear and she heard some strange noises and gasps in the background.

"Colby!" she heard Charlie say.

"Just don't move…" Colby responded.

And more weird noises that included Charlie and Colby whining. Then, suddenly, the communication was cut off. Someone had hung up on the other side. Megan stared at her cell phone and Larry noticed it.

"What is it?" Larry asked.

"Something's going on there."

"What do you think it is?"

"I'm… I'm not really sure. There are two possibilities. One is positive, the other not so much. Let's hope it's the first one."

Larry's eyes widened. "Ok," he just muttered, and stared at the shops that they were passing by.

When they got to the house, they waited for the cab to disappear in the middle of the night and looked for a window that showed a room with the lights on. But the house was in complete darkness. Don wasn't there yet.

"Ok, I'm not liking this," Larry whispered, and Megan took out her gun. "I guess it's very practical to always have that at hand." They approached the front door and waited for a second.

She tried to listen to any sounds there could come from the inside, but she just shook her head. "You should stay here, Larry."

"But what if Charles and Colby are taken as hostages and…?"

Megan saw that Larry was so scared that something could happen to his former student that he was able to leave his pacifist profile behind and enter the house even if it was dangerous. "Are you sure?" she asked.

Larry just nodded, and she checked she had her cell phone with her, just in case she needed to ask for backup or an ambulance for her lover. They were in the dark living room when they heard gasps coming from upstairs. Megan looked at Larry, who nodded again, saying he was ok, although he seemed to be about to pass out.

"Larry, I really want you stay here."

After hearing those gasps, Larry accepted she was right and that she should continue by herself from now on. Megan went upstairs being very careful not to make any noise and she placed a little flashlight above the gun she held in her hands.

She was sure the noises came from Charlie's bedroom. She went to its door and opened it a little, but all she could see was a huge pile of papers, a chair and a little table. And she could hear more panting.

It appeared to her that this was the display of the good one between the two possibilities she had had in her head.

And suddenly, she heard a scream and someone stumbling, like if the people that were in that room had noticed her presence behind the door. So Megan just entered the bedroom and pointed the flashlight and the gun to the opposite side, trying to figure out some kind of human shape.

Her mouth hung open when Charlie and Colby got off the bed and when they stumbled together trying to put their boxers on in the shadows. She watched them get up and stare at her in astonishment. Their skin was sweaty and their faces flushed, embarrassed and in shock under the light of the flashlight.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE.**_


	13. Completely insane

**Title:** Completely insane  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 13/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Megan, Larry  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** After being discovered by Megan, Charlie and Colby have a private fight.

**Feedback****:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 13: "Completely insane"**

"Oh my god," Megan said, and she lowered her flashlight and her gun.

"Megan?" Larry's voice said, because he was coming upstairs, and Megan was so astonished about what she had found that she couldn't stop her lover getting to the room.

Larry ran to the door and without thinking, he just turned the lights on. "Charles, are you ok…?"

He stood there with his mouth and his eyes wide open, his fingers still on the switch.

"Oh god, not you, Larry…" Charlie mumbled, running his hands over his entire flushed face, and he ran to grab his t-shirt and his sweat-pants. Colby immediately went for his suit.

When they were messily dressed again, they stood in silence in front of Megan and Larry, who stared at them without saying a word.

Charlie seemed not to be able to look at his friends. Megan supposed he was thinking that she had to be trying to find a psychological reason for him to get into bed with a male partner at this point of his life. But that wasn't the case.

Megan turned her head to watch a totally astonished Larry. Then she took a deep breath, while she ran a hand over her forehead. She was exhausted, surprised and worried. "I knew this was going to happen…"

"What?" Colby asked, his voice a trembling whisper. He was obviously embarrassed that he had been caught having sex, like a teenager being discovered by his parents.

"How…?" Charlie suddenly added.

"This was the first option, the positive one you suggested?" Larry said finally.

Megan just nodded and tried to calm down. She looked at Charlie and Colby and said, "Your bond has become so strong, guys. And it wasn't just friendship, I could tell. As a profiler, it was very easy for me to notice that this was finally going to happen. That's why I didn't want to come here tonight. I wanted to give you time to get you know your feelings. But I didn't expect this… special moment… to be tonight, and I less expected to run into you in the middle of it…"

There was silence for a few seconds. Everyone was processing the information.

Larry was the first to talk. "So what is this, the beginning of a romantic relationship?"

Neither Charlie nor Colby responded immediately. It all had happen without any kind of control, and nothing had been decided yet. They looked at each other. Then, Charlie just stared at the floor.

It was obvious for Megan that he wasn't sure of what he had done tonight. She saw that Colby was watching Charlie with an expression that meant true disappointment.

"Oh, c'mon Charlie… I can't believe you're considering…" Colby mumbled, and went to the window.

Charlie followed him and said "I…" He stopped, and that was the sign for Megan and Larry to leave Charlie and Colby alone.

So Megan and Larry went downstairs. In the living room, Megan looked out the window, just to make sure they were all safe. Nobody dangerous seemed to be around. She sat on the couch with Larry and squeezed her face with her hands.

"I can't believe this," Larry murmured, and he was running his hand over his tense neck.

"What, you don't agree with what they did?" Megan didn't sound angry. She sounded deeply tired.

"No, no, it's not that. It's none of my business… Besides, I know for sure that no one can tell his heart what to feel. For example, when I first met you, I didn't have any hopes about consolidating a mature relationship with anyone in a long-term view, and look at us now... As much as I'm concerned, I'm the happiest man on earth, and I don't even care about the mathematical odds there were for this to happen."

That little speech brought out a smile from Megan, who let her head fall against Larry's shoulder. "I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, Larry."

He flushed a little but still kept talking. "Well, your appearance in my life entirely changed the way I see the order of universe… There's no such thing as being destined to be alone. There's only a long road you have to take until you find the one person who suits you… We have a living proof here that there's a higher entity guiding our lives to fill them with joy."

Everything that Larry had said made Megan glow and once again she felt completely sure that he was the most amazing man she had ever met. They sat like that in silence for a while until there were noises outside and she had to see what was going on.

Don had arrived, and he wasn't alone. Megan got the feeling that the reunion that was destined to happen at the Eppes' residence had a very good chance of turning into a somehow bad experience. She just hoped that what Larry had said about a higher entity guiding the universe towards good was actually true and that everything would be ok in the end.

VVVVVVVVVVVVV

Upstairs, things were getting ugly. "Colby, it's not that I don't want to be with you…" Charlie said over and over.

"Well, it seems like you don't. How can't you know what it is, this feeling we have for each other…?"

"We have to think differently than before. Some things have changed…"

"Charlie, have you forgotten what was going on here, in this very room, just a few minutes ago?" Colby was angry, devastated and scared about what Charlie's response to his question could be.

They remained looking at each other's eyes for a moment. "No, I remember everything very well," Charlie answered, and his cheeks flushed. He took a quick glance at the bed and some of the sheets that lay on the floor. "I remember it all."

"And still, you're having doubts about where we should go from this moment on. You don't even know what this is. Look, even if Megan and Larry know…"

"I told you I had to take that phone call," Charlie said, and he was raising his voice.

"What are you suggesting, that this is my fault?" Colby yelled, because he couldn't believe Charlie's attitude. "Excuse me, but you didn't exactly complain when I threw the cell phone away." Colby was absolutely sure that he had a very good point. He was amused that Charlie had the nerve to answer back.

"What if it had been Don the one to come in while we were…? Oh god, it would have been the end of everything…"

"The end of…? Oh, c'mon. Really? You would have stopped all of this? Everything, like you just said? Because two people got to know about us?"

"Don't forget about Amita… She knows enough already."

"Yeah? Well, David knows some things too."

If there was any possibility for Charlie to embrace Colby's point of view, it was gone. He just stared at the agent and snapped, "David?"

Colby just told him the truth. "Yes. I told him on Thursday night."

"You're kidding."

"No. Why, is it wrong that I had shared my feelings for you with a friend? I didn't even think I had a chance with you then."

"Colby, now everything's too dangerous! There are too much people who know too much…"

"So what? They are our friends. They will keep the secret if we ask them too. They care about us, and they'll understand what we feel…"

Charlie shook his head and threw his hands to the air in a dramatic gesture that matched his angry voice. "That's not the problem! I've already told you about what this could mean to my family!"

It was just terrible for Colby to see that Charlie was freaking out again. He just stared at the mathematician with his mouth hanging open, not being able to understand how, after the amazing night they had just shared, Charlie could still restrain his own feelings.

So he cut Charlie off and yelled, "Listen to me, you're _completely insane_. So as long as you don't want to truly accept what you feel, stay away from me. I can't take your confusion anymore. It's making me crazy."

"You're wrong. I know what I want, and that's to be with you. But the point is that…"

"_You haven't made any decision about what to do with me, Charlie!_ You said you did, but you didn't, though. You keep making excuses, don't you see?" Colby took a breath. "You are hurting me so much, and what's even worse, you don't seem to care."

Those words fell on Charlie's body like cold water. He was all angry and scared and shocked by having been found in bed with Colby and by getting to know that almost everybody knew that something was going on between them. But this, Colby saying that he should stay away from him, that Charlie didn't care about him, that he was hurting him… it broke his heart.

And this was all his fault. Just his.

Colby was about to leave the room when Megan entered and said "Guys, speak softly, please! Don is downstairs, and he could hear everything about..."

"_About what?_ There's nothing going on here, anyway," Colby interrupted her, taking his jacket and going downstairs while he tried to flat his spiky hair.

Charlie felt Megan's eyes on him and heard her voice saying, "What happened, Charlie?"

He wasn't sure whether he should trust her with the details of the fight or not.

"C'mon, you can trust me. Everything you say will stay between us," she encouraged him.

After giving up in a second, Charlie sat on a chair that was in one of the corners of the room. He took a deep breath and his voice broke. "I can't do anything the right way. I'm not even able to tell him how I really feel. I just encourage fights."

"And why do you think that is?"

"First, I thought our careers would be destroyed. Then Colby convinced me that this wouldn't happen, that you guys all would keep our secret."

"Well, that's true."

Charlie's eyes relaxed a little because of that confirmation. "Thank you… that means a lot."

"There's nothing to thank for." She smiled at Charlie, who smiled back sadly. "Then, what?"

"The other big excuse I seem to find every time is Don and my father's probable reaction to me being with a man…"

"Do you think they wouldn't approve that relationship, in case you both and Colby decided to have one?"

The mathematician looked at the ceiling. "There's this image I have in my head… Don is shocked by my confession and my dad can't even look at me. I couldn't live with that."

"Ok… but could you live without knowing what a potential relationship with Colby could have been if you would just have dared to give it a try?"

Charlie became speechless. The two possibilities, his family's rejection and Colby's were on the same level of sadness and regret.

"Just think about it, Charlie. Take your time… but whatever you decide, just make sure not to give Colby false expectations, ok?"

"Of course… Thank you for your advice. This conversation has been very helpful for me… and it has made me gain a different point of view about this whole situation."

"Don't worry about it, Charlie. That's what friends are for."

It was painful for Charlie to smile knowing that he had to take a decision very soon so Colby wouldn't get hurt even more. He got up, thankfully shook Megan's hand and started making the bed and ordering his room, just in case Don or his father had the idea of coming up.

"So why is Don here? His date was horrible? Or maybe he ruined it? 'Cause it seems that it kind of runs in the family," Charlie asked, trying to make his comment sound like a joke, even if it hurt him to do that while feeling so miserable.

Megan responded, "I don't know anything about his date except that he had to leave at the middle of it. Amita's kidnapper escaped from prison…"

"What?"

"We still can't believe it. And what's worse, apparently he's determined to hurt the people Amita loves, and you're at the top of the list…"

"I see."

There was a moment of tension and worry. But Megan said, "It's not only Don who's here. He brought Amita from her house, she was about to go to the airport. Don insisted that he would provide her some protection until we find the criminal. David arrived a few minutes ago. And your dad just came from yoga class. Don asked him to, he wanted to be sure he's ok."

"Oh… ok… I'll be down in a minute."

Charlie watched Megan leave and then, while he finished making the bed, he felt the panic building inside him. He ran his hands through his hair, put on some other clothes so Don and his dad wouldn't suspect anything weird. Before going downstairs, he swallowed hard and tried to calm his mind from ordering his body to scream.

All the risks were there in front of his eyes, waiting for him to face them. He would have to be very aware of everyone's movements and words to prevent them from becoming the source of new problems.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE.**_


	14. The key to the secret

**Title:** The key to the secret  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 14/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Megan, Larry, David, Don, Alan, Amita, OMC  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** After a private fight, nothing worse than getting into a public one when everybody is in danger.

**Feedback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my lovely beta._

_**Author's note (important!): I strongly recommend you to read my other fic **__**"I'll show you what's smooth" **__**(you can find it in my profile here at ) so you can understand what David and Colby are talking about in this chapter. Besides, "I'll show you what's smooth" is rated M for **__**explicit adult content**__** in part 3**____****__**. I've been told that it's pretty good. I hope you enjoy it! And if you read it, please leave your comments because I adore reading what you think of my adult fics. I will try to get back to you all.**_

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_The Connections Series_

**Part 14: "The key to the secret"**

When Charlie went downstairs, he found his father asking Don how dangerous the criminal that had escaped from jail could be.

"He had access to some very interesting weapons. He kidnapped Amita, and once we got him, he fooled us all. I don't get how the hell he did it, but I swear I'm going to catch him again," Don said, and he looked very worried about the people he loved. "Hey Charlie, are you ok? Megan told me you were, but I just wanted to know…"

"I'm fine… She came here as soon as you called her," Charlie answered and he looked at Megan, letting her see what he really meant.

Suddenly, Charlie noticed something. Behind Megan there was Colby. Both man stared at each other for in a silent and sad fight that hadn't been resolved yet. They had to keep it to themselves, it would be crazy to get into an argument right there in the living room in front of everyone.

Colby wanted so much to make Charlie accept the fact that it didn't matter what anyone else could say about them if they decided to be together. _Why are you so embarrassed to be with me? You know what we both feel. Please, don't leave me. Please, don't make that cruel decision. Not after what happened tonight, upstairs... not after all you said to me…_ He became lost in the feelings and the sensations that being with Charlie had brought to his heart. He knew he had never felt that with anyone. And Colby was sure that if Charlie asked him to stay away, he would never find a person to love who loved him back the same way. Never.

On the other hand, Charlie wanted so much to make his head stop spinning. He was so confused. He remembered his last conversation with Megan, and one of her questions. "Could you live without knowing what a potential relationship with Colby could have been… if you would have just dared to give it a try?" she had asked, and that point of view had broken his heart. If there would be no one to judge Charlie, he would absolutely have gone towards Colby and kissed him in front of everybody. A deep, sweet and strong kiss that would let Colby know that he wanted him too_. But I still can't do that. First… I have to be 100 sure. Megan was right. I shouldn't create false expectations in your head. It wouldn't be fair… at all. But god, I like you so much._ His cheeks flushed as he remembered the moment when he had lead Colby upstairs and into bed. Holding each others hands firmly, it had been like Charlie was giving him his entire life, the entire meaning of his existence. And all the time, Colby was so beautiful and tender, always asking him to be sure. An absolutely amazing man that could be Charlie's. _But there's so many obstacles for us to be together… Why _does _it have to be this way…?_

"Charlie, is everything all right?"

It was Alan's voice that came right down to Charlie's brain, making him get a little dizzy and provoking him to lose his ability to talk for a few seconds. "Oh… yeah, yeah. I'm just…"

Luckily, Don and Alan would probably think that it was Amita's presence what was making Charlie act this way. She was seated on the couch and she didn't look very happy. Charlie glanced at her and then tried to focus his eyes on something else. _If only they knew. _

Without any warning, Don asked Charlie to go to the kitchen so they could talk alone. Not very happy about it, Charlie followed him there and when they were there he waited for Don to talk.

"Hey, you know I brought her here because she's in danger, like you and maybe likeall of us. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't absolutely necessary," Don explained.

"I know that, and it's ok that she's here. It doesn't bother me."

However, Charlie didn't look to be pleased by her arrival at all. He felt Don's hand on his shoulder and his brother's voice saying, "So what happened between the two of you guys? You seemed so close, you were so stable, and dad was pretty sure that you would finally give him grandchildren."

"I already told you that I don't want to talk about it."

Don's voice became protective and brotherly. "I know, I know. Last time I brought up the issue we took it as some kind of joke, but it really isn't. Why don't you trust me? Maybe it would be good for you to let it out…"

**"**It concerns only Amita and I," Charlie responded very firmly. "Please, don't ask me about it again. That relationship wasn't destined to succeed and everybody should accept that it is over."

Charlie regretted a little having pronounced those word in such an annoyed tone, because it obviously made Don mad. "Hey, buddy!"

"It's none of your business."

"Yes, it is. You're my brother and you said you did something terrible. You left me very worried about you."

"Well, I appreciate that you want to take care of me and everything, but this is a personal matter that I'm not willing to share. Sorry, but you'll never find out about it."

"Oh, no. Every time you talk about it, it sounds more and more serious! I'm going to find out about everything, I assure you."

"Ok, yeah, why don't you give it a try?" Charlie answered, lifting his hands, while he walked out the kitchen. He hated that Don was putting more pressure on him, without even knowing what was really going on.

"You bet I will. You won't be able to escape from me, Charlie!" Don said, and took a breath when Charlie was gone. He remained in the kitchen for a while and saw his father walking inand looking very concerned.

"Are you sure we will be able to keep Charlie, Amita, and everyone safe?" Alan asked.

"I'll do my best, that's what I can promise you, dad," Don answered, and he crossed his arms. "That crazy guy won't put his hands on my family or my team, I won't let him."

"I'm not talking about that, Donnie. I already know that you'll protect Charlie. I meant if we will be able to keep up with the situation we have here."

"Charlie and Amita in the same room after that public fight," Don guessed.

Alan walked around, breathing hard. "Yeah. I got the feeling something's going to explode here. Did you see how terrible he looked right there in the living room? He seemed about to faint or scream."

"He was very nervous. That's why I tried to talk to him here in the kitchen. It didn't go well, by the way. He stormed out saying again that he would never tell me what happened between him and Amita."

"I see. But do you have any idea of what it could have been?"

"No, not a clue. I'm not sure at all about anything at this point," he finally said. "He's acting weird. Since he had that fight with Amita at the office, he got mad at Colby, and now they don't seem to have fixed anything between them. Did you see the way Colby looked at Charlie there? And the way Charlie looked back at him?"

Slowly, Alan nodded. "You know, son… The other day I found your brother sleeping in the bathroom…"

"What? Why would he do that?" Don asked, his eyebrows almost joining in an expression of shock.

"That's what I'd like to know. He didn't give me any explanations, but I didn't ask him either. He's an adult and he has to take responsibility for his actions. However, finding him there was disturbing. He hasn't been like this since your mother died."

The memory of Margaret's loss overwhelmed father and son. They stood in silence honoring her and trying not to get sad. It wasn't the best thing to do considering that there was a crazy man trying to get to Charlie and Amita.

"I'll get to know what's making him act like this, dad. I'll do it, no matter how difficult it is. I'm trained for that. And I'll make him react and go back to who he was before. I promise."

With this promise, Alan didn't seem to relax. He slowly said, "Well, I'm sure his situation is confusing, but… as I said, he's an adult. If he wants to keep what happened to himself, then… who are we to drag it out of him? People deserve to have some privacy, Don…"

Alan was obviously right. Don regretted that he had been trying to get the truth out from Charlie, like they were still teenagers. His little brother was a man, but it seemed impossible for Don to let him handle his own problems. "You know, dad? I think… I think you're right. Maybe I'm too… overwhelmed by this situation… and I'm not making the best decisions right now," he muttered, and walked towards the living room. "I'll go check how things are going there…"

"I'll make tea for everyone."

"What? No coffee?" Don said, looking back, "Dad, we're agents that work 24/7, and we're facing a 'high risk situation' here. We need the extra energy…"

"Yeah, but I don't want to encourage an altercation between your brother and Amita, not with this… 'high risk situation'."

Don smiled and thanked her father with loving eyes. Alan nodded and went to grab the tea.

When Don got to the living room, he saw David asking Colby to talk alone for a while. It seemed that something wrong was going on, and Don kept one eye on them, and the other on Larry and Charlie speaking in whispers in a corner, while he and Megan loaded up their guns.

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David held Colby's arm, because his friend seemed to be about to punch a wall at any second. "Hey man, what's going on?"

"Charlie's going on." That was the simple answer of a broken-hearted man. Colby was trembling from head to feet while he arranged his gun, and the energy he liberated was related to anger.

"Why? I don't understand."

"We… there's a 'we'…" Colby muttered, and then smiled and rolled his eyes in an expression of irony. "No, wait, that's a fact, and _only I_ thought there was a 'we'… Me, the stupidest man on earth… me and my foolish expectations…" He rested his back on the wall and took a breath to calm down.

Those signs made David feel uncomfortable with being at the Eppes' house, if Charlie had hurt Colby. "Ok… That means that you and Charlie had a fight…"

"We had a fight… after being discovered by Megan while we were…" Suddenly, Colby stopped talking.

But as always, David was there to help him, and he knew that what Colby needed was a caring response. "Colby, you can talk to me. You've already confessed everything to me on Thursday night, remember? And you know I understand what you feel for him…" He waited for his friend to answer, and he relaxed when he saw Colby shaking his head and starting to talk again.

"She found us… in bed."

"Oh…" David's eyebrows were high, because he was amused by how fast Charlie and Colby had got to that point of a relationship in only one day.

"But that's it, I'm not telling you anything else. It's…"

"Private, I get it. Don't worry, I wasn't going to ask you about the details or anything, it's none of my business, man."

"Good."

"But what's wrong? You got to be together, and that's what you wanted so badly…"

Again, David saw Colby smile ironically and he heard him say, "Yeah, and now he's having doubts for the tenth time…"

"Well, that's understandable…"

Like he had insulted Colby, David received a very angry look from his friend. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… Look, sometimes it takes a while to get to know your feelings. Maybe he needs more time than you did. And there's this possibility… that you have got into that… _intimate_ moment too soon…"

"Says the man who gave me an obscene tape as a gift."

At some point, David thought that was an offensive response to his generous attitude towards Colby's lack of Charlie love. "I was trying to help you, and you were very thankful, if I remember well," he whispered, "But that's not what's important now. You rushed things a little bit, Colby, and I'm sure that's the reason why Charlie is…"

"You don't know anything, you weren't there. He was the one who asked me to spend the night with him…" Colby shook his head, "You know? Just… whatever, man… Forget about everything I said about him. Let's try to catch Amita's kidnapper and leave all that has happened behind. I don't want to think about Charlie anymore. It's too painful."

He ran his hands over his sweaty face and went to the bathroom to splash water on it. David watched him look at his reflection in the mirror, and he knew that it wasn't going to be easy for Colby to let go of this and focus on the work.

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"Larry, I need _time_, not to discuss this with you…" Charlie said, because Larry couldn't stop offering himself to be the person that he could talk to about Colby.

"It seems that there are some irrational clouds blocking your normal thought process. Charles, you have to understand that sometimes unexpected encounters are destined to happen because they are supposed to brighten people's lives-"

"I'm not up for philosophic theories! This is reality, this is not an experiment… even if it feels like it."

They were in the corner of the living room talking softly, being careful that Don couldn't hear them, even if he often had his eyes on them.

"It all happened so fast… I haven't even got the time to process the meaning…" Charlie continued. He knew that Larry was now lifting his index finger to insist on having a conversation about the Colby situation, so the mathematician used a very serious voice tone to say, "… by myself. I have to figure this out by myself."

There was a moment of silence, and when Larry spoke again, all he said was, "Ok, I respect that, Charles. But I just want you to know that whatever dilemma you might have to confront, here you can find a soul that is willing to help you to deal with it."

Finally, Larry seemed to agree to wait until Charlie was ready to talk about Colby. The mathematician smiled sweetly and turned around to see his father coming back to the living room carrying a tray with tea cups for everyone.

He handed a cup to Amita, who accepted it without smiling. Charlie watched her sip the tea, her hands shaking, like she was dealing with the fact that she had to stay in the house even if all she wanted to do was catch a flight to India.

Charlie's father saw him staring at her and he said to Amita, "Are you coming to visit us sometime in the future, of at least call every once in a while? 'Cause that would be lovely. You are still a friend of ours."

The question took Amita by surprise. She went speechless and she looked at Charlie as though looking for a sign of what would be the most correct thing to say.

So he entered the conversation and very politely suggested, "Yeah, you could… you know, call… or send postcards… sometime… if you have the time…" He was making strange pauses when all he wanted was to sound natural and confident. Of course, Charlie knew that he hadn't fooled his father. Alan looked at him with concerned eyes, and the mathematician swallowed hard.

"Charlie, I'm going to ask you this for the last time. Are you ok?"

Charlie needed some seconds to organize his thoughts. "Yeah… yeah. I just feel… really sad that I'm losing someone that I care so much about…" he said, because he still loved Amita a lot, even if it was only as a friend.

"What?" Colby said. He had just come out of the bathroom, and he had heard the last words Charlie had pronounced.

Everybody in the room stared at Colby, who had his eyes fixed on Charlie. Megan and Larry glanced at each other, because Colby had obviously taken the mathematician's words as a proof that Charlie had given up on him and wanted to get back with Amita.

David was the first to reach for Colby and say to him in a whisper to his ear, "Hey, relax man, I'm sure it's not what you think…"

"Really? It's not what I think?" Colby repeated, and he was talking to Charlie. He didn't get an answer.

The mathematician was still figuring out what he had done to make Colby get mad now. But he was frozen, all eyes were on him at the moment too, and a lot of people knew about the underlying story that was hanging in the air. Everyone except for his father and his brother, who looked like they had no clue of what was going on.

The only thing that could make Charlie react was Colby. The agent grabbed his own head and yelled, "Oh my god, I'm such an idiot. This wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't meant to be!"

Don walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Colby, are you ok? We can talk about this because we're a team, but not now, we're in the middle of a situation…"

Colby looked at him and tried to say something. He was going to find some lame excuse, but an excuse after all. He wasn't going to say anything about what had happened that night before everybody arrived.

However, Charlie couldn't know that, and in a desperate reaction to keep his secret safe, he went towards Colby and said to him, "Don't say a word. I'm going to handle this, not you."

"Well, you're handling it very nicely, considering that you're not planning to do anything at all!" Colby's sarcastic answer left everybody with their mouths hanging open.

"Colby, we already talked about this. I want you to know that I need time…"

"Fine, take all the time you need!"

"Don't yell at me like that! You live in Wonderland! I need to get myself together, find the meaning of this, and then…!"

"Don't talk to me anymore, ok? Don't _confuse_ me anymore! You've got an answer or you don't, and I guess that you already decided what you want."

Suddenly here was a well known sound that made everybody turned around to look at the couch that was behind them. Amita's kidnapper was seated beside her and he was holding a gun to her head while he took her by the waist. The criminal also had a knife sneaking out of his boots, a rifle that pointed out of his back, and several grenades tied to his belt.

"Good conversation here, people… Good conversation… I enjoyed it a lot. But it's so sad that some of you don't know the truth those two are hiding…" the man said with a bright smile, looking at Charlie and Colby.

The team's attention had been attracted by the last discussions and events, and no one had watched the back door. The lovers' private life was starting to change the dynamic of the group, and this, the fact that a criminal had taken everybody by surprise and kept Amita as a hostage, would most definitely change the course of things.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them.**_


	15. Unexpected moves

**Title:** Unexpected moves  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 15/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Megan, Larry, David, Don, Alan, Amita, OMC  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Colby and Charlie make unexpected moves that provoke Amita's kidnapper to get angrier.

**Feedback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the ideas used in this fic and my OMC.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my lovely beta._

_**Author's note: **__If any of the __anonymous readers__ (if I have at least one) would like to get responses to the comments they leave, they should probably leave them at my website (which you can find here in my profile at fanfiction(dot)net). I can't answer you here if you don't have an account, but at my website you will be able to at least check out comments to see if I have responded to you. Is that ok? I hope you don't mind about my suggestion, but the thing is that I would really like to be able to give feedback to those who kindly had gave it to me. :) _

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_The Connections Series_

**Part 15: "Unexpected moves"**

It was one o'clock in the morning. As soon as the kidnapper appeared on scene, Don recapped the information he had about him in his head.

His name was Patrick Garner, and according to the FBI files that now had his name on them, the man had been Amita's ex boyfriend years ago. Charlie had never got to know about him. It had been a relationship that Amita had regretted for a long time,especially given the fact that Patrick had overwhelmed her over the years bytrying to get her back.

Don remembered well the moment he had feared that the man could do something to Charlie after he had escaped from jail. He had also feared that if Amita got hurt because of his craziness, Charlie's heart would be broken, even if they weren't a couple anymore.

This remembering only took him a few moments. Then Don motioned everybody to calm down and stand still. Megan, David**,** and Colby were professionals and they knew how to be careful. Alan and Larry obviously weren't going to do anything to put Amita's life in danger. But it was Charlie who looked especially worried and desperate, and he seemed the most likely to do something foolish and ruin the negotiations that should start at any second.

Holding his breath, Don tried to say something, but the criminal talked first.

"So someone didn't take the incoming phone call that would let you know I was free," the man muttered with his rasping teasing voice while he rolled the barrel of the gun up and down Amita's cheek. "Isn't that what you told Agent Granger a while ago, Dr. Eppes?"

Colby gulped and swallowed, and Charlie turned his head to look at him in horror.

"Where you here… the whole time?" Colby asked, not seeming to be able to breathe properly.

The criminal shook his head, his mouth curving in a wicked smile. "Oh, no… Not _all_ the time, because I got here about an hour ago… but I've seen enough, trust me."

Oh, no. There was no way that this could be happening… No way.

"What's he talking about?" Don said, while looking at Charlie and Colby. Something had to be happening between them two, and considering the public fight plus the way Patrick talked, it didn't seem to be good.

Both Charlie and Colby shook their heads and whispered a not very believable "nothing," while Megan, Larry and David looked a little suspicious. The only one who looked as curious as Don was Alan, who was standing close to Amita beside the couch and tried not to move.

"Oh, I wouldn't call it 'nothing'," Patrick continued, and he ran the barrel of the gun up and down Amita's throat. Then he looked at Alan and smiled, very sure of himself.

"Hey, hey!" Don warned Patrick, lifting his hand a little.

"You make a move and she's dead," the other man warned him in return, squeezing Amita's waist.

"You hurt anyone here and you're the one who's going to be dead."

Patrick looked at Don mocking his confident attitude and smiled again. "I don't think you're in a position to be so cocky, Agent Eppes. Do you forget who I have here? I have your lovely brother's ex-girlfriend, and the truth about what's keeping Charlie and Amita apart…"

Don heard Charlie and Colby gasp behind him. They looked horrified and tense, and the others seemed not be sure of what to say.

"Your guess is right, Agent Eppes. Some of them know something you don't..." Patrick said, and the way he pronounced those words was long and dark.

That made Don a little confused, but still he started the negotiation. "I don't care about that, I care about what you want so Amita and all of us can be safe. Are you willing to work with me?"

"Sorry, but I don't think so…"

Don shook his head in irritation. "Then you're crazier than I imagined. You think you're getting out of this one with four agents in the house?"

"But I've got the big secret…" Patrick pointed out, playing some kind of childish smile, and he glanced at Amita, Charlie and Colby.

No matter how weird the guy was, no matter how many suspicious things he said, it wasn't a good moment to play the boss card. "Ok, ok... you're right. You have control. Look man, just tell me what you want I'll try to get it for you," Don continued.

Suddenly, the criminal started to laugh, like he considered that Don's promise was funny. "_Please_, do you really think I need to negotiate? I've gotten out of jail and lost the FBI myself. I guess I can handle maintaining my liberty pretty well, thank you," he established, laughing a little more. Then he started mumbling what Don had said before, mocking him again.

"Then, what? What's the purpose? Just vengeance because Amita left you?" Don asked, encouraging Patrick to tell him more. Maybe he was so crazy he would confess his evil plan.

"You're not getting me to confess my goals, forget it. I risked a lot to come here with you all here, as you said. You'll just have to wait and see. But I guess you could say that I've been really pissed off at her for the last years…"

While he ran the barrel of the gun over Amita's chest, he said something into her ear. "Do you want to know? Do you _really_ want to know what they did? Do you want to have the exclusive of why Charlie left you?" He immediately received a heavy look from Amita. He seemed to be able to read the truth on her eyes. "Oh… you already _know_ the reason. Although… I guess you have no idea of what happened in this very house last night…"

She took a deep breath, and that seemed to be the sign Patrick was waiting for. Now watching Amita's trembling lips, he muttered, "Ok, let's see… who I should talk about first? Dr. Eppes or Agent Granger?" He slowly started to play with the trigger of the gun.

"No, please!" Alan suddenly said. He was obviously scared that something could happen to himself, but he feared more that Amita would get hurt. He had said several times before now that he considered her to be his daughter and his friend, even if she and Charlie weren't together anymore.

Patrick rapidly took the knife that he had in his boots and pointed it to Alan, while he still pointed the gun to Amita. Even if Alan and Patrick were not very close, Don yelled "Don't you dare!" No one was going to hurt his father. No one.

But someone had been moving all along. "You're not talking about anyone," Colby said. He had been approaching Patrick, who was focused on Amita and didn't notice. Colby even had his gun in his hands, but when he tried to use it, the man used his knife to cut Amita's arm and made her whimper in pain.

Everybody jumped in their places, and Megan intervened. Don was sure she hadn't talked until now because she was thinking about how many possibilities there were for Charlie and Colby to get discovered, and how many there were for Amita being killed that morning. But now it wasn't time for thinking anymore, it was time to get into Patrick Garner's mind and make him react.

"Wait!" she said, and went towards him. "This is not necessary, you've got all the power here!"

"How can you know that this is not necessary?!" Patrick yelled, and he pushed Amita against the couch, digging his fingers on her wounded skin and making her cry. Then, in seemingly a second,he grabbed Colby's arm. The criminal had an overwhelming burst of energy, and he was able to take Colby's gun and throw it to the floor, pulled him onto the couch too and held the barrel of his own gun against Colby's chest. "Really, Agent Reeves. How can you know?" he repeated.

Megan's intervention had made things worse. Colby's idea of taking Patrick by surprise hadn't succeed either, and now hewas on the couch beside Amita, both of them forced to not to move by Patrick's gun. "Interesting… Now I have two hostages," he muttered, and then talked to Colby, "You're so brave. So caring, so loving. You wanted to save the girl because Dr. Eppes still cares about her, right? Mmm… it was a nice gesture, but I guess it didn't work."

"Shut up," Colby responded to him, and Patrick's face showed amusement. "What did you just say?" Colby remained silent, and Patrick repeated, "_What_ did you say?" The criminal took Colby's face with one hand and squeezed it while he still held the barrel of the gun against his chest. "Do you want to really suffer? Is that what you're looking for?"

Don was completely astonished, watching Colby take such risk in the middle of that situation. It was obvious that his mind was blocked and that he was making mistake after mistake. There was no reason for him to do that, what the hell was wrong with Colby?

And then David, Megan, Larry, and Alan yelled at unison.

"No!"

"No, don't do that!"

"No, are you crazy?!"

"Please, Charlie, don't!"

Those were the yells that came to Don's head and that made him turn around. His brother was making the stupidest move ever. Charlie got to grab the gun Don had in his waist. Now he was holding it and his hands were shaking, but he was determined to save both Colby and Amita.

"Let them go… Now…" Charlie muttered, trying to get a firm grip on the gun.

"Oh, how sweet that you try to be the hero…" Patrick mocked him.

"_Now!_ I said that you let them go _right now_!" Charlie yelled back, and he seemed so out of control and so nervous that Don started to go for him and take the gun from his hands.

But it was too late for him to do that, because Charlie was getting closer and closer to Patrick, step by step he was approaching him. Patrick didn't do anything at all, he simply waited for the mathematician to rest the barrel of the gun on his forehead.

"Are you going to shoot, Dr. Eppes?" Patrick asked, and he twisted his head a little, "Even if this turns you into a killer and destroys your entire career?"

Charlie seemed to have doubts, but he didn't retrieved. He and Patrick held each other's looks for some seconds… and then the kidnapper made the gun fall to the floor with a fine movement and threw Charlie over Colby on the couch.

"I knew you wouldn't. You're not that brave," Patrick said, and he managed to keep everybody quiet and frozen by pointing at Charlie's face with his gun. The mathematician's body curved against Colby's, and Colby was pushed onto Amita's hurt arm. She cried softly, probably remembering some of the torture sessions she had been through when she was kidnapped at the Saint Fate Motel.

Of course, Patrick was still looking at her, but now there was a much more interesting scene there. "Wow… just… wow," he whispered, and his eyes were shining with excitement. "Amita there, Charlie here… Colby in the middle. Isn't this man the one that separated the beautiful couple? Isn't this mathematician the one who took my place, Amita? Was it worth to leave me for _this, _after what he did to you?" he continued. Charlie and Colby's eyes went wide open, and they looked at the rest of their friends and family who were in front of them, silently waiting for a change to finally take Patrick down.

Still, Patrick kept talking, but this time he approached Amita a little over Charlie and Colby and said ironically, "I'm going to tell you what I know. Last night, in this very house, these two men spent their first night together in the room ups-"

"_Shut up!_" Colby ordered him, and suddenly he used his face to punch Patrick's and make him dizzy. Then it all seemed to change. There was a shot at the ceiling, and the kidnapper dropped his gun and knife and fell to the floor, grabbing his head. Don and Megan went towards him and the hostages. Megan took out her gun while David went towards Patrick's gun and knife, because they were lying on the floor very close to him.

However, Patrick was not going to give up yet. He still had some energy to take his gun. In less than a second he pointed it to Amita, who was still close to Charlie and Colby on the couch.

Colby tried to grabhis own gun from the floor, but it seemed that it was too late for that**. **Patrick was pulling the trigger, and the only thing that was left to do was looking for shelter. Desperate to protect the one he loved, Colby reached for Charlie and covered him with his body, both of them falling to the floor.

Amita was left alone in the corner of the couch, and she screamed when she thought she was about to die. The bullet left the gun and was about to get to her…

And then someone stood in the middle, taking the bullet by himself. It was Don the one to stand in front of her and take the risk. Luckily, the bullet entered his arm and didn't pass through to Amita. Don gasped because of the pain, but he also saw that Patrick was cursing on the floor.

But Patrick wanted more, and he was about to shoot again when someone else shot at him first. It had been David. Amita's kidnapper was dead, and he didn't represent any menace that they knew of.

And just when the danger seemed to be over, something rolled out of Patrick's waist. While he was trying to shoot, he had activated one of the grenades he had brought to the house with him.

Everyone saw the grenade roll until it reached the center of the living room. It was Patrick's unexpected last move. The bastard was good because even dead as he was now, he kept causing trouble.

"Kick it, Larry! Take it out of the room!" Megan yelled from her place besides Amita. Almost everybody was around the couch, around Patrick's body, too far to reach for the grenade.

"C'mon Larry, do it!" Don said too. He watched Larry's face tense in confusion. It was obvious that the physicist wasn't the type of character to get into violent situations. His entire body was shaking, but when he seemed to realize that the danger was real, he did what was needed.

He ran towards the grenade in a second and awkwardly kicked it into the next room. Hopefully, it would be far enough to not hurt anybody seriously.

Everybody covered their bodies and protected their loved ones when the grenade exploded, blowing up a significant part of the Eppes' residence. Things flew to the air in pieces with a harsh sound.

After a few seconds, Don and the others opened their eyes. They checked that everybody was ok. Amita was wounded, but she wasn't in imminent danger.

Alan went to see the ones that had been at Patrick's mercy, but of course, the one he was interested in the most was his youngest son. Charlie told him that he was ok, that nothing had happened to him, and then Don came on scene.

"What _the hell_ were you trying to do, huh? Taking my gun like that…" he said to Charlie very angrily.

"I don't know… I… I just went for it…" Charlie responded, and he seemed to be about to faint.

Don wasn't done yet. He went towards Colby and said, "And what about you, Colby? Are you insane? You were defeating the guy when you were at his mercy!"

Colby simply shook his head and went to the corner of the room. Don kept his eyes on both him and Charlie, and saw that they looked completely devastated. He had to know what the hell was going on between them. Their problems were causing the team to become sloppy and inaccurate.

Still, there was a lot to do now, so Don tried to focus on the damage Patrick Garner had caused to his house. He went to his father, who was now sadly looking at the next room. It was almost completely destroyed.

They both stood there looking at their broken possessions, and Charlie joined them silently. The three of them stared at a part of their lives that was gone now. The place they used to hang out and gather together three times a week for dinner. And what was worse, the house had been a way to remember their mother, and some photographs of Margaret had been blown up. All because of Patrick Garner.

WwW

Half an hour later, Don had already called an ambulance and the FBI. While other FBI agents were gathering evidence, the team was trying to recover from what had happened in the last hours.

Megan and Larry were beside Amita, who was being helped by one of the EMTs. They weren't talking, though. They were in complete silence, looking at everybody who was around.

"Are you ok, man?" David asked Colby, because Colby's expression wasn't good at all. They were walking on the street, trying to get some fresh air.

"Yeah… I guess so. At least, physically speaking…"

"I see," David muttered, and he put a hand on Colby's shoulder. "What about the other stuff?" he continued, and he was obviously talking about Charlie.

"I'm crushed. But I'll try to forget about everything. I'll be fine, I guess."

David was about to ask him if he was sure, when Charlie came on scene, so he excused himself and went to see how Amita was doing.

"Are you ok?" Charlie whispered, and he was very nervous to talk to Colby after everything that had happened. However, he was sure he needed to know if Colby had got hurt in some way.

Not surprisingly at all, Colby just nodded and left Charlie alone. The mathematician watched him walk towards other agents to talk a bit. Then, Charlie took a deep breath and went to see Don, who was sittingbeside his father in one of the ambulances.

There was an awkward moment between them. However, Don said, "Do you understand what you did? Do you see how much danger you added to the situation?"

"Yeah." That was the short response from the nervous mathematician.

"Oh, that's very good. 'Yeah', that all you're going to say. Charlie, can't you see that you could have died? That anyone of us could have been shot at because of you trying to get Patrick angrier?"

"_I said I know, Don!_ I know that what I did was stupid, and that it put everybody in danger! I don't need _you_ or _anyone_ to remind me that, I have enough with what's in my head!" Charlie yelled, and he went to sit far away on the corner of the street.

Alan watched him with worry eyes,and spent a long time analyzing the potential causes for his son's strange behavior. He had a pretty good idea of what could be happening, but he still needed to be sure.

He didn't know that there, Charlie became sure that he had to make his final decision about this lover. And that he had to do it fast, before everything in his life lost meaning and crushed his soul until he couldn't recognize himself anymore.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	16. 95

**Title:** 95  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 16/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Megan, Larry, David, Don, Amita.  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Charlie makes his final decision about the Colby situation.

**Feedback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the ideas used in this fic and my OMC.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my lovely beta._

_**Author's note:**__ I tried to use some of the math I've learned to get into Charlie's head._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 16: "95"**

Charlie spent the next hours walking around the streets. He had seen earlier that Don was ok, and that Amita was being supported by the others. He needed to get some air. He needed to clear his mind and make his confusion stop. For Colby, for his brother, for Amita, for everybody. But mostly, for himself.

The streets were full of people talking about what had happened in the residence. The neighbors pointed their fingers at him, saying that they wanted to know the details. They even surrounded him asking him to explain what had caused the explosion. Charlie didn't say a word. He was about to cry, and he didn't want anyone to see him like that. So he pushed everybody away from him and ran until his legs lost all their energy.

Then he seemed to embrace the life of a ghost. He got lost inside his own mind. It turned out to be the safest place he could get in. Just formulas and proved truths that never got shaken by any new theory or unexpected discovery. An atmosphere where he could hide and be alone in complete silence.

Because he thought that no one could break his balance. No one could make his equations tremble in the lines of the papers inside his head, no one could make the dots in the maps disappear. No one could make the lines of pursuit curves seem insignificant.

But Colby had done all that. He had moved Charlie's math to the second place in his priority ranking. He could have been gathering information in his house, creating an algorithm to explain exactly how much damage Patrick Garner had done to it. And yet, he was randomly walking around, all sweaty and absent from the world.

It didn't matter how he looked like, it didn't matter the people who shook their heads in shock when they passed by the famous mathematician. They were ignorant. He had a choice to make, and it was much more important than what people could think about him.

However, they didn't really know. They didn't know anything. How they would react if Charlie held Colby's hand, without noticing, on the streets? How would Charlie be able to keep his head high and pass them by with a fearless and proud look that meant he had the one he wanted the most?

Probabilities. Trust metrics that were taking a sample of a huge number of possible elements to let Charlie's brain do the math and extrapolate the results to the universe. That gave him as a result the most likely response from people to one of the potential decisions. Charlie could rapidly calculate that if he chose to let Colby enter his heart and his life, there was 95 of certainty that they would look at him in disappointment and horror.

Charlie needed to study other calculations anyway, and in order to do that he needed paper and a pen, which he didn't have with him. So he returned to the house, passed by everybody and saw Colby getting into a car. The door of the vehicle closed, and then Colby was gone. Charlie ran to the garage. Luckily, it was pretty much intact, and his old blackboards were still there to help him clear his doubts.

He started to write equations and gathering information about the sample he wanted to use. It included his friends' reactions to the fact that he and Colby liked each other, the position his father and Don had in regard to gay people and society's phobia to same sex relationships.

The result was the same. 95 certainty that people he knew and appreciate wouldn't understand.

Charlie had never thought this moment would come. He hated his math. Why couldn't the calculations give him a positive result? Why couldn't the numbers back up what he really wanted to do? He couldn't take the decision about Colby without his probabilities. He just couldn't. All his life, he had depended on math. And now it wasn't helping him at all.

Now he thought he needed some air again, so he went into the house. Between the destroyed parts of the walls, he saw that one of his mother's pictures in the living room was gone; it had probably been blown up with the explosion. Charlie stared at the place it used to take, feeling miserable. He did know that the grenade issue hadn't been his fault, but he couldn't stop wondering if things could have been different if he hadn't intervened in the altercation.

And yet, in the bottom of his heart, what scared him the most was the fact that he had taken Don's gun and risked his life for Colby. He wasn't the kind of person to get into violent scenarios; he was more of an observer, even if he enjoyed a lot gathering data in the actual crime scenes. He had never got into something that involved guns or weapons of any kind, not even when Amita had been in danger during the Primacy case.

When he came outside again to see how things were going, he found that, as well as Colby, David wasn't there anymore. A very worried Don was talking to his father, probably about Charlie. The mathematician didn't approach them; he didn't want any more people telling him how crazy he had been lately.

He went towards Megan and Larry. They were still with Amita seated at the entrance of the ambulance. "Hi… Are you ok?" Charlie asked his ex-girlfriend, and she just nodded.

Neither Larry nor Megan seemed to have anything to say about Colby to Charlie if Amita was present. The only thing Larry commented was that he was very nervous and that he would need to retrieve into the monastery for a few hours to calm down and get his balance right. On the other hand, Megan said that the team had been asked to go to the headquarters to make a statement on what had happened in the house.

Charlie didn't feel like going to the FBI, but it was his obligation to do it, so he got into a car with Don and his father, while the others got into another vehicles. The trip seemed to be very long due to the fact that no one talked. Everyone just stared at the road, not saying anything to Charlie or about the incident. Of course, Charlie was happy that it was that way. He didn't want anyone on his back, letting him know again how irrational he had been.

When they got to the FBI headquarters, Colby and David were already there. Everyone made their statements, being asked by an agent from a different department, and then Charlie started to work in his computer. He was doing it just to stop thinking about Colby being there, so close, and the people who knew about what was going on between them.

He came up with Patrick Garner's most likely decision analysis for the last hours, and rapidly he showed everybody that math could have help to predict the actions of a human being. Charlie said that it would have been better if they would have done it before. Then he felt guilty because he had been dealing with the fact that he liked Colby for such a long time that he hadn't come up with the idea of it.

And while he held the files and explained his theory in terms that the others could understand, all Charlie could think about was how much easier things would be if math could guide his thought process.

Colby seemed to be trying to avoid talking to him or looking at him. For some reason, the agent stared at his own papers, playing with his pen, his eyes sad and his face tense. It was not a good sign, but what could Charlie expect? Their connection was on a hiatus again and this time it was worse than the last one.

Don was just staring at Charlie like trying to figure out something. Charlie hoped he couldn't read the truth in his eyes.

And Amita's eyes were lost in some random point from the wall. She hadn't said a word since Patrick Garner had been taken down.

Charlie's speech ended soon, and almost everybody, including Colby, got out of the room they had been resting in. David remained in his seat, like he was waiting for him and Charlie to be alone. Larry and Megan looked at the mathematician like they were worried about what David might say.

"So… you wanted to talk to me about something?" Charlie asked David when everybody was outside the office.

"Yeah. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about how you've been handling the Colby situation."

Charlie suddenly remembered that Colby had confessed him that David knew about them. "Oh…"

David wasn't exactly thrilled to bring up the subject. His words were full of concern. "You are messing around with my friend, did you know that?"

The tone surprised Charlie, but he managed to respond. "I'm not messing around with him."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. I don't want him to suffer."

"It doesn't seem like it."

Tension seemed to absorb all fresh air from the room and take it to some place far away. Charlie bit his lip and got the nerve to feel offended. "Look, David, I know that you care a lot about Colby, but this is an issue between me and him."

"Well, I'm the one who's seen the tears in his eyes."

"Tears?" Charlie repeated, and suddenly there was a hard pain inside his stomach. He felt guilty. "I see... but as supportive as you are as Colby's friend, I can assure you that I will make my decision soon. I would appreciate it if you could leave me alone and give me space and time to make my confusion disappear, please."

David just shook his head. He went towards Charlie and made a clear warning. "He's never been into anyone like this. You're important to him. Please, don't play around and if you don't feel the same, just tell him so he can stop feeling like crap. Do it for Colby, ok?"

Charlie swallowed and took a breath when David stepped out of the office. He needed to think… and he couldn't do it with everybody around. He needed someone to talk about his fears, about that damn 95. Amita wasn't an option, and there was only one person left who could understand his analysis as well as his feelings.

He took his stuff and looked for Larry. Megan told him that the physicist had gone to the monastery, so Charlie took a cab to get there. He found Larry seated on a bench and joined him.

"Oh, hi, Charles," Larry said.

"Hi…"

Charlie sat beside Larry and remained silent. He admired the amazing atmosphere that surrounded him and tried to relax from the lovely view.

"It's difficult, isn't it?" Larry asked, and Charlie thought that the man could read his mind like the palm of his hand. When the mathematician nodded, Larry continued, "Oh, to accept the miracle of true love… I've been there myself when Megan appeared in my life, and I know that it's so hard to understand that one can be appreciated in such an amazing way."

"Well, I won't be enjoying the fruits of that miracle, at least not any time soon."

"Why not? Colby and you have this connection… it seems very natural to me that you two take it to a whole new level."

"I think the same way, but what about other people? I made a probability analysis in order to anticipate what would be the most likely response from people to Colby and I being together."

Larry's eyes were big when he asked, "And what was the result?"

"That people will think we're sick. That they won't understand what we feel."

After that answer, Larry became thoughtful, like he was considering all the variables that could affect Charlie's analysis. "Ok… what was that exact certainty percentage you got?"

"95," Charlie said, and then he took a breath. "So I feel like there's no hope. I mean, if math gives such a overwhelming result, then what can I do?" His voice was trembling because he was about to break.

"Of course… But Charles… and let me say this from the bottom of my heart…" he continued, and he looked at Charlie with worried, warm eyes. "Does any percentage actually matter?"

"Of course, it matters."

"Really? The human factor in your analysis is not relevant as a subjective approach?"

"I'm counting the human factor. I'm working with people's reaction, Larry," Charlie responded, a little annoyed that Larry was saying something that was so obvious.

"I'm referring to the logical argument that relies on common sense, and of course, in any kind of mathematical study." Larry took a deep breath, like he was trying to find the right words to express himself. "The truth is that you need to focus on what you want instead of what others want for you."

Charlie was about to say something, but he remembered that that was exactly what his father had told him a long time ago when Dr. Penfield had appeared at CalSci to destroy his reputation. In that moment, Charlie had thought that he should do something different from the FBI, something that was meaningful for others. Then he had realized that he had to follow his own path because there were certain things that satisfied him and made him happy.

Larry was still talking. "I mean, if there is one source of happiness that you can reach for, then I think you should give it a try. Fate is saying something to you, Charles, and I'm pretty sure you should hear its call… It might not be the same fate that has been assigned to others, but it can mean the change of an entire life for good. I speak from experience, just look at Megan and I. We were two lonely souls which found each other in a world of conflict, and that's very similar to a miracle to me."

"I understand what you're saying, but…"

"I know you don't like that kind of philosophical ideas as much as I do, but I'm also trying to give you advice. I like to consider that we're friends just as we are two inquisitive minds who work together and spend an important amount of time with each other everyday…"

"You _are _my friend. You always have been." Charlie's voice was sweet because he couldn't believe that Larry was actually confused about the bond that linked their lives.

"So… Are you going to at least consider the advice of a friend? I mean… what do you have to lose? Everybody who loves you will cover you, and I'm sure your family will need time to get used to the fact that you and Colby are together, but it will be ok, Charles. If life brought the two of you together, then it's because something beautiful must come out of that."

Charlie listened to every single word Larry said. He paid attention to all the ideas and arguments, and had to admit that some of what his friend had said was interesting. "So… you say that the 95 is not important? Not even if it comes from a probability analysis?"

"I'm not saying that math is not a great tool for making decisions, of course. What I'm saying is that what you're applying here are… probabilities, and you should probably remember the basic nature of them. Some of the possibilities are not included in the actual results. There's a component of unexpected potential responses that remain unknown, but that are not necessarily bad. That's the 5 that's missing."

The monastery was silent and peaceful. And after Larry pronounced his last words, Charlie felt like his mind had unblocked. Everything had been so confusing over the past few days, but now even the math itself was finally giving him the benefit of the doubt. There was no certain way to know what could happen if he gave Colby a chance to have a relationship, or whatever it was they could have.

All his nerves relaxed, and he felt a joy in his heart that seemed to reach the peace of the beautiful nature that surrounded him. He smiled, letting his worries go away, and then he watched his hands. He joined them and looked at Larry with tears in his eyes. "Thank you… Thank you, Larry. Thank you so much…"

Larry smiled back at him and retreated a little when Charlie reached for him and hugged him awkwardly. They both laughed and Charlie patted Larry's shoulder when he got up.

"Are you going to communicate your decision?" Larry wanted to know, and he was still smiling.

Flushing, Charlie crossed his arms and with a big smile he said, "Yeah. I'm going to tell him. I'm going to let him know that I'm sure now."

They nodded together and said goodbye. Charlie was sure Larry kept his eyes on him while he walked out of the monastery. His friend was so loving and understanding. Without Larry's point of view, Charlie would have never been able to find the way to get the mud out of his head.

He went to the FBI looking for Colby. He asked everybody about him, but the agent wasn't there, and neither was David. No one knew where they were. There was only one possibility. As showing up at Colby's apartment was a little bit too dramatic, Charlie grabbed his phone, swallowed his fears about how Colby would react to his decision and if he would be willing to give him a second chance. He entered an empty office and dialed the number. Colby responded a few seconds later.

"Granger."

"Um, hi…"

"Charlie?"

"Do you have a minute?"

"Look, we've already said everything that we needed to say."

"No, I haven't. I told you I needed to clear my head… and well, I've made my decision."

"Oh… ok." Colby's voice sounded sad and angry at the same time.

"I'd like to tell you this personally, but you're not at the FBI. Could we meet?"

Charlie head Colby take a deep breath. "No. Just… let's end this now."

"Um… Fine, if that's what you want…" Charlie swallowed and circled with his finger the table he was seated at because he had to do something to avoid fainting. "I've decided that… I'd like to give us a second chance."

Now it seemed that the phone had fallen from Colby's hands. There were weird harsh noises, and then the agent was saying, "What?"

"Yeah… I've thinking a lot and I realized there's something really meaningful between us. And I don't want to waste it. I want to live it. I want to… _be_… with you."

He waited for an answer.

"We could meet later at my apartment, if you'd like," was Colby's simple response, and Charlie thought there was excitement and emotion in the way he sounded.

"It's… perfect! I'll be there, I promise. I'll go home to fix some stuff and help my family to organize what we'll do about the damages, and then we'll talk."

"Charlie… I'm looking forward to seeing you there."

"Yeah…, me too. I really want to see the look on your face when you actually hear me say everything I want to tell you."

"Like what?" Colby asked, encouraging Charlie to give him something before their meeting.

"I don't know… That you are the most important person in my life right now… That I don't want to be without you ever again… That there's so much for us to do together yet…"

Charlie heard Colby laugh, and he smiled in a cute way to his phone before saying, "I'll be there, Colby. I promise."

Colby said goodbye to him and Charlie closed his phone. He took a deep breath and spent a little more time seated at the desk, just thinking that everything had turned to be ok. Then he got out of the FBI and went home. He was eager to meet Colby and show him the results from his probability analysis, he wanted to tell him that it had saved Colby from the Chinese before and that now it had saved Charlie from making the mistake of his life.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	17. The name

**Title:** "The name"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 17/?  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Don, Alan, David.  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Don finds out about what's going to between his brother and Colby. How will he react?

**Feedback:** Yes, I love it! Please, READ & REVIEW.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the ideas used in this fic and my OMC.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my lovely beta._

_**Author's note:**__ If you'd like to know more about what's going on between David and Amita and why they were having a fight, you can read my new story "Not thinking about you". You can find it in my profile._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 17: "The name"**

"Do you understand what you did? Do you see how much danger you added to the situation?" Don said to Charlie when as his brother went towards the ambulance.

"Yeah." That was the short response he received from him.

Charlie's confused face made Don annoyed. "Oh, that's very good. 'Yeah', that all you're going to say. Charlie, can't you see that you could have died? That anyone of us could have been shot at because of you trying to get Patrick angrier?"

"_I said I know, Don!_ I know that what I did was stupid, and that it put everybody in danger! I don't need _you_ or _anyone_ to remind me that, I have enough with what's in my head!" Charlie yelled, and he went to sit far away on the corner of the street.

Don remained silent, his eyes fixed on the street. Alan was by his side, and Don heard him say, "Donnie, did you hear what the kidnapper said when he had Amita, Charlie and Colby on the couch?"

"I don't know, Dad, he said lots of things. I was busy trying to figure out a way to keep everybody safe."

"I know… You took that bullet to save Amita, and you should go to the hospital to get it taken out of you, even if you've been shot at thousands of times." Alan was looking at Don with thankful eyes, like he was happy and proud of this oldest son. Don could see they joy in his father's expression. The FBI agent looked at the bandage an EMT had put around his shoulder until he could get to the hospital to get the bullet out of his body.

"However, I don't think that she's fine… at all," Don muttered, looking at Amita, who was in another ambulance. "I mean, the guy totally tortured her. Do you think that she'll be able to recover from that?"

"I hope so."

"I'll arrange some kind of therapy sessions for her if she wants me to."

It took Alan a few moments to answer back. He took a breath, crossed his arms and said, "That would be good. But Don, I'm also worried about your brother."

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with him. How could he take my gun? He doesn't even know how to use it!"

"Something is happening to him, Donnie, and I think we both know what that is, after what Patrick Garner said."

"What do you mean, exactly?" Don felt a little overwhelmed by the fact that his father could get some information from Garner's words, when he couldn't find any meaning to it.

"He said that… well…" Alan seemed to have problems to find the right way to speak his mind. "He said that Charlie and Colby got together last night."

"Yeah… So?" Don didn't understand. What was the point?

Alan took a deep breath and tried to make himself clear. "Donnie, he said that Colby was the person who separated your brother and Amita… What do you think he was trying to tell us?"

Don held his father's look for a few moments, trying to figure out what he was saying. When the idea got into his head, he jumped in his place and started to laugh. Maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the fact that he was so tired, but what he was thinking about seemed to be completely stupid. "What? Dad, you think that Charlie… and Colby are… like…_ together_?"

Alan simply nodded. "That's exactly what I think."

"Oh, c'mon! That's not possible. Charlie's not… he's not into guys."

"Then what other explanation do you have for this entire situation?" Alan wanted to know.

"I don't have one at the moment, but I swear I'll find out what's going on with Charlie. And I don't think it's going to have anything to do with Colby in the way you're suggesting. I know my brother," Don affirmed, and he got up and went towards Amita, leaving his worried father behind him.

David was beside Amita, and they seemed to be having a tense conversation. "Don," David said when he saw his boss.

"David," Don muttered, and then he looked at Amita. "Hey, we'll have to go to the FBI to make some statements," he continued, and he avoid talking about the therapy sessions because it didn't seem to be the best moment to do it.

Amita nodded and got up, leaving the men behind her. "She must be feeling so terrible right now," Don muttered, watching her go while he ran his fingers over his chin.

He didn't expect David to say, "And my presence here is not helping her."

"Why do you say that?"

David shook his head smiling and he said ironically, "There's no reason, Don. No reason at all." Then he left Don alone and went to see Colby, who was getting into a car.

There was definitely something very wrong going on that Don was not seeing. He observed the situation that surrounded him. There was chaos, people happy to have a new source of gossip, people afraid that something might happen to them, and there was the mystery of David, Amita, Colby and Charlie.

Suddenly, Don realized that his father was still giving him a very heavy look. But there was no way that he had seen something that Don didn't. Don knew Colby enough, because he spent more than twelve hours with him at the FBI everyday. And he knew his own brother a lot more… or at least he wanted to think it was that way.

In the bottom of his heart, Don knew that even after four years, he couldn't tell exactly what kind of things ran through Charlie's mind. They were still so different from each other, they had almost opposite approaches for the same problems, and they usually got into discussions about how to deal with dangerous situations.

Still, there was no way Don could have not seen that Charlie was gay. But on the other hand, it seemed to be strangely ridiculous that his own father was even considering the possibility. That was the reason why Don was starting to get worried. Alan was completely serious about the issue.

And what if it was actually true? What if Charlie was gay, and Colby was the one person he had chosen to be with? Don didn't want to think about that now. He had enough already with his house being blown up.

When he, his father, and Charlie got into one of the FBI vehicles and made their way to the FBI to make their statements, Don decided not to talk at all. He needed his mind to remain clear. However, it seemed to be the hardest thing to do at the moment. Every time he saw Charlie on the rear view mirror, his mouth got dry and he felt about to lose control over the vehicle. Besides, he had Alan's gaze over him sometimes, like his father could see that he was thinking about.

When they got to the FBI, Don had no idea how he had held himself together during what it had seemed to be the longest trip ever. His heart was racing and he found it very difficult to tie up words to create sentences.

He handled making his statement pretty well, anyways. Duty and work were more important than the crazy images about Charlie and Colby that he was seeing in his head.

Minutes passed by and he could relax a little. But then Charlie made his speech about how Patrick Garner's behavior could be predicted using the appropriate mathematical tool. The way Charlie talked and looked at Colby from time to time was a little weird. The way Colby stared at his papers and played with his pen was odd. Amita seemed to be completely absent, while David shook his head like he was thinking about anything except the present situation. Larry and Megan were definitely tense and it was like they were expecting some kind of fight at any second. And Alan was staring at his youngest son and Charlie's potential lover like he was trying to get a confirmation of his hypothesis.

Luckily, the reunion ended soon, and Don could step outside the office to get some air. He saw David talking to Charlie for a while, and he thought the first one was trying to get some sense into the other one's head. Charlie shouldn't grab weapons that he didn't know the simplest thing about.

Then Don asked Amita if she's like him to take her home so she could rest a little after everything that had happened. Amita said that she would rather go home alone, but a few minutes later Don saw her get into a car with David. Now things were more than weird. What could they have to do with each other? They were not really close friends, Don could tell.

However, he had to go to the hospital to take the bullet out of him. He did that and when he returned to the FBI, he spent a while drinking coffee at the break-room. It wasn't the best beverage to drink when he wanted to relax, but relaxing didn't really seem to be possible right now. Not when he was surrounded by people who worked with him and kept secrets from him at the same time.

After half an hour of deep thinking, Don decided that he needed to start his own investigation about what was going on. He was about to get to a computer when he realized that he had forgotten his batch at the office. He had to return to it to get it, but he stopped at the door when he heard his brother's voice inside the office.

Charlie was facing the opposite direction, making a phone call. "I've decided that… I'd like to give us a second chance."

Don immediately assumed that he was talking to Amita. He smiled thinking that Charlie hadn't lost all perspective, that Alan was wrong, that his brother was straight and that everything could go back to normal.

"I've thinking a lot and I realized that there's something really meaningful between us. And I don't want to waste it. I want to live it. I want to… _be_… with you."

Don smiled even more, hoping that someday Charlie and Amita got married and started a new family. He giggled at the thought of Alan when he finally got his grandchildren.

"It's… perfect! I'll be there, I promise. I'll go home to fix some stuff and help my family to organize what we'll do about the damages, and then we'll talk."

After hearing those words, Don had the urge to enter the office and tell Charlie that he would take care of everything. He would also encourage his brother to go get Amita back. Finding the secret could wait a little if Charlie was actually trying to get himself together again.

"I really want to see the look on your face when you actually hear me say everything I want to tell you," Charlie muttered, and he was glowing. "I don't know… That you are the most important person in my life right now… That I don't want to be without you ever again… That there's so much for us to do together yet…"

_Way to go, brother. You're not as geeky as I thought. You know a little about what women like to hear from their lovers…_ Now Don was determined to enter the room as soon as Charlie ended his phone call, just to hug him and congratulate him for making such a good decision.

He put a hand on the door, and then… he heard _the name_.

"I'll be there, Colby. I promise."

Don froze, still holding the door, and stared at Charlie. His brother was closing his phone…

_Colby._

Still in shock, Don waited two minutes and then he entered the office and looked at Charlie, who was getting ready to leave after grabbing his stuff.

Charlie turned around and saw him. He seemed to think Don hadn't heard anything because he had ended his phone call a few minutes ago. He was smiling, and his cheeks were soft pink. His older brother swallowed at the thought of what had been the reason for Charlie to be so happy.

"Don, are you ok?" Charlie asked, and he looked at Don's shoulder. "Did you take that bullet out?"

It took a moment for Don's brain-cells to make synapses again. "Yeah, yeah… I… I promised Dad that I would do it." His voice was trembling and weird and he was definitely uncomfortable.

"Ok, we should go home, then," Charlie announced, "There's so much to do in the house."

"Sure, sure. I'll… I'll tell Dad," Don mumbled.

When Charlie got out of the room, Don kept his eyes on him. How could this be possible? How could Charlie… _be_ gay? When had that happened? Did Colby feel the same? _Probably. If not, then why did they have that fight at the house?_

Something that Patrick Garner had said, and that his father had repeated that morning came to Don's mind.

"Last night, in this very house, these two men spent their first night together…"

_Their first night together._ The thoughts of what that could really mean overwhelmed Don and he needed to sit down. When he did, his skin was burning and he felt dizzy again.

_So that's why Charlie grabbed my gun. To save Colby and Amita because he liked him and he felt guilty about leaving her for another guy. _Don started to make connections between the last events he had witnessed, and now things were clearer than before.

When he got out of the FBI and walked towards his father, he just swallowed. "Don, are you ok?" Alan asked him, and Don said something about the bullet wound hurting like hell.

Still, Don insisted on being the one to drive the car. Even if his injuries were deep severe, he needed to focus on the road, on the traffic lights, on the buses, on anything except the hopeful look in his brother's eyes.

But as minutes passed by, he realized that he was getting frustrated and mad. He found himself consciously watching Charlie smile on the rear mirror. Don hold a firm grip on the wheel, and his father seemed to realize what he was going through because Alan suddenly said, "Donnie, calm down, please."

When they got to the house, Don got out of the car first and closed its door with more energy than was needed.

"Don, are you ok?" Charlie wanted to know.

"I don't know, Charlie, I don't know," Don responded, and he got inside what was left of the house, which was surrounded by "Police do not cross" bands. He could hear Charlie asking his father what was happening to Don, and then Alan saying that Don should be the one to talk to him about it when the right time came.

The three of them started to collect the pieces of their coffee mugs, their photographs, the little pieces of wood from their furniture. They spent an hour trying to fix some of their things, and then they got together in the kitchen to have a pizza for lunch.

"I'm going to see if I can fix some of the original Margaret pictures upstairs," Alan suddenly said, and he made a signal to Don that he was expecting him to stay calm.

Don ate his piece of pizza and mumbled some words when Charlie asked him if he was feeling better after the bullet had been removed from his body. Finally, Charlie went to grab his stuff and asked Don to tell Alan that he had to go out for a couple of hours.

It was obvious what Charlie was going to do. Don watched him into the living room and followed him. There, he crossed his arms and looked at the floor. When he lifted his gaze, Charlie was about to leave the house. "Are you going back with Colby?"

Charlie froze in his place and it took him a second to turn around. He looked terrified and he was starting to sweat. "What?"

Silence.

"You heard what I asked you, Charlie. Are you going back with Colby? 'Cause I heard you say that he's the most important person in your life right now."

Charlie swallowed and he seemed to be about to faint.

"I mean, you took my gun to save him. That means something."

"You took a bullet to save Amita."

"I risk my life for others all the time, it's no big deal. But you, Charlie... You never did that for anyone," Don said, very sure of himself. He needed to speak his mind before he went crazy. "So? Do you love him?"

In his place, Charlie swallowed again and he finally admitted it. "I don't know."

"You don't know."

"Yeah, I don't know. I just know that I like him a lot and that I'd like to see what could happen between us."

"Um… ok."

That "ok" didn't seem to be ok at all. Charlie stared at Don for a moment and then he said, "Do you have a problem with me being with Colby?"

Don shook his head. "Of course I do! When the hell did you become this person, Charlie? The one who doesn't like women, the one who doesn't tell his own brother that he's gay, the one who goes around taking people's guns!"

"Because I knew you'd react like this!" Charlie yelled, and he grabbed his head. "I knew it, I _knew_ it, damn it!" Charlie seemed to want to rip his own hair out of his head. His cheeks were red and he was starting to cry.

Still, even if he didn't like to see Charlie cry, Don had to make a point. "Oh, thank you very much, Charlie! Does that mean that you think that your brother is an insensitive person that is not able to understand you?"

"_Well, you're not exactly making this easy, Don!_"

Don had to admit that he was right. He ran a hand over his face, and then he said, "Ok, ok… Can we start over, please? I didn't mean to hurt you, buddy… The thing is that I don't get how all of this happened in so little time, and why you didn't tell me…"

Tired of talking, Charlie cut him off. "No. _No_. Just… you've done enough already. I need to be alone," he muttered, "It took me so much time to make the right decision to be with him, and now you say all that to me…" He went towards the door, and before leaving, he turned around one last time. "You asked me if I loved him. What do you know about love, Don? You've had hundreds of girlfriends, and do you see any woman here to take care of your wounds? 'Cause I don't."

Charlie left his brother speechless and got out of the house. Don suddenly heard the car's engine being turned on. He ran outside and found Charlie inside the vehicle. He got really scared that something could happen to his brother because he was really out of control at the moment. "Charlie! Charlie, you know you can't drive like that! In fact, you can't drive at all!" Don yelled at him, but he was completely ignored.

Charlie couldn't use the car, anyways. It didn't want to start, and Don saw his brother got out of it and ran to the streets. "Charlie! Charlie, come back!" Don begged him, but Charlie didn't look back and just kept running.

Charlie's figure disappeared around the corner, and the neighborhood become as silent as it had been before Don and Charlie's screams. A couple of old ladies who where walking by stared at Don for a moment because they had obviously heard the discussion, and he just hated the fact that after the explosion, this would get to be another source for people's gossip.

When he returned to the house, he found his father downstairs, looking at him with worried eyes. "Don, what have you done?"

Don took a deep breath and ran his hands over his tired face. "I wasn't thinking, Dad. I just… wasn't thinking. I did everything wrong. But I can't understand him, you know? He was with Amita, and not suddenly he's with Colby? How can someone change so much in like two months? And how could I not notice what he was going through?"

"Some issues are so intimate that no one can know about them but you."

"But you knew," Don said. He sounded frustrated.

"I'm the father. I _always_ know everything about my sons," Alan responded, and he seemed to be very serious. "And you, as the good brother I know you are, should not try to get the reasons out of him, or try to know everything in advance. Understanding someone doesn't mean to be able to follow every single decision the person makes. It means to accept those decisions and let the person be. We all act trying to achieve what we think it's best for ourselves. So what if this is what Charlie wants? Would that be so bad?"

Alan's advice left Don speechless. However, he managed to say a minute later, "So you're ok with this."

It was obvious what that opinion was, considering what Alan had said before. "It took me all morning to process it, but I realized that as long as he's happy, I'm ok with anything he decides to do," Don's father said, and then he gave him one of his wise-man looks. "Donnie, you need to talk to your brother. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, Dad,I know what you mean."

"And you have to tell him that you'll keep his secret from the FBI and anyone who can put his career in danger."

"Of course. I'd do that and more for Charlie, Dad. You know that."

A moment of silence.

"Is he going to see Colby?" Alan wanted to know.

"I don't know. I suppose he is. I heard them talking over the phone. They were going to meet anyway today."

"I see."

"Yeah," Don whispered, and he felt a little less guilty when his father lovingly patted his shoulder. He remained at the front door thinking about what he had said and done, and trying to get the courage to not judge Charlie anymore.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	18. Dying expectations

**Title:** "Dying expectations"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 18/23  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, David, mention of OMC-Patrick Garner.  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Colby's feeling hurt until he receives Charlie's phone call. He prepares a little gift for the person he loves the most.

**Feedback:** Yes, I love it!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the ideas used in this fic and my OMC.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

_**Author's note:**__ If you'd like to know more about what's going on between David and Amita and why they were having a fight, you can read my new story "Not thinking about you". You can find it in my profile._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 18: "Dying expectations"**

"Colby, wait!"

Colby heard David's voice calling his name. He was about to get into his car to go to the FBI and get away from all the chaos that surrounded Charlie's house, when his best friend approached him.

"David…" Colby started to say, meaning that he wanted to be left alone.

"C'mon, get in the car. I'll drive."

"I'd like to be alone for a while, David."

"I understand that, but I also see that you lied to me before. You're not ok, and you won't be anytime soon."

Actually, David was right, and Colby had to admit it. He was feeling like crap and his head seemed about to explode. It wasn't such a bad idea that someone else took the wheel because Colby was a little out of control at the moment.

So he just stared at David, who was putting on his sunglasses, and then he got into the passenger's seat. David got into the car too and turned on the engine.

There was no pressure being there with David in the same physical space. Colby knew that his friend would respect the fact that he wanted to remain in silence. Since Charlie had taken Don's gun and pointed it with shaking hands to Patrick Garner, Colby had started to think differently than before.

He didn't even know if Charlie had tried to save him or Amita in the first place. After all, Charlie still appreciated her. He had said, "I just feel… really sad that I'm losing someone that I care so much about…" How could that not mean that he was still interested in her?

Colby started to ask himself how he could be so stupid to think that Charlie would get over Amita so soon. They had been together for two years, maybe more. One's feelings for someone didn't just disappear because one had dreams about another person, or because one had sleep with that person.

Even if Charlie had said that he didn't regret anything, the fact that he was still making excuses made Colby feel that he really didn't mean anything for the mathematician. It hurt thinking that after giving his everything to Charlie, he had been pushed away.

The thoughts about what had happened in the last hours provoked Colby to forget about not saying a word.

He took a deep breath, and without taking his eyes off the road, he muttered, "You were right, you know. We jumped into bed too soon."

David seemed to take himself a moment to think about how to respond to that without making Colby feel worse than he already felt. "Ok… But you said that he had been the one to ask you to… you know."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have gone for it. I mean, he definitely wasn't prepared for it if then he said that his family and the world will judge us."

It seemed that David was thinking thoroughly about it, and when he spoke, he said, "That's true."

"Exactly," Colby took another breath, "That's what bothers me the most. I know that he's right, but at the same time I hate that he's not willing to keep the secret."

There was a moment of silence in which everything that surrounded Colby (David, the car, the houses, the almost empty street) seemed to lose its meaning. It was like it its existence didn't have any purpose, like it was boring and pointless.

"I can't stop wondering if I shouldn't have put myself in this situation. I'm an FBI agent, he's a famous mathematician. What kind of future could we have?"

"I don't know, man. But you'll never know if you don't try. Trust me, I speak from experience."

Colby turned to see David, who had his eyes on the road. "What happened to you, David? Is it about that person you talked to me yesterday morning?"

If there was something Colby remembered well was the fact that his friend had confessed him that he had loved a man before. That's why he could lean on David. David knew what he was going through.

"Well, I had this school partner…"

"It was when you were at school?" Colby took a deep breath. "You were very young then."

"Yeah."

"What was his name?"

David remained silent for a moment and then he muttered, "Daniel."

"And what happened exactly?"

"We were eighteen and we were best friends. I told him that I liked him and he never talked to me again. Do you want the details?"

The way David talked seemed to be a little annoyed. Colby didn't say a word because he didn't have any idea about why his friend was acting like that.

And then David shook his head and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, man. I'm not ok either. I'm just… This entire situation of you and Charlie makes me remember the old days."

Colby saw that the other man swallowed hard and that his hands ran over the wheel very clumsily. So he put his hand on David's shoulder and muttered, "I'm sorry that this is making you feel bad…"

"You don't have to say 'sorry'. It's not your fault that I had to go through that."

"I'm sorry anyway, David," Colby muttered, and David turned to look at him only for a moment because he was still driving.

"Thank you."

David continued driving for a few seconds and then he pulled the car over next to a coffee shop. He turned off the engine and took several deep breaths.

"David, are you ok?" Colby asked him, because he was getting worried.

"Just talk to me. Tell me how you really feel about your situation with Charlie. It will make you feel better if you just let it out."

"But I thought that you didn't wanted me to remind you of-"

"_Talk_."

Now Colby had David's dark eyes on him, and he knew that he was going to have to confess again. This time wasn't different than before. He was about to let his best friend know everything he was thinking and feeling, and he didn't feel embarrassed of it at all. He trusted David that much.

"I… I want him to want to be with me," Colby muttered, "I want him to tell me that he wants to give this is shot, no matter what the results are." He didn't know why, but he was starting to cry. His voice became shaky and rasping and his cheeks went red. "But I don't know how to make him do that, I don't know how to deal with others knowing that we like each other, I don't know anything at all. But I do know that I want Charlie to be with me." He had to stop there and cover his face with his hands because he just couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Colby could felt those tears running down between his cheeks and his palms. He started to gasp and now he really felt embarrassed for not being able to stop.

Suddenly, he jumped in his place when he felt David's hand on his shoulder, the exact same gesture that Colby himself had made to show his friend how much he loved him. Still crying, Colby stared at David and felt the love on the other man's eyes.

"It's ok to cry. Men cry, even if they don't want to admit it."

"Have you cried for Daniel?"

David smiled sadly, taking off his sunglasses. "Maybe too many times, considering that it was a lost cause."

"I'm such an idiot. I don't know what I was thinking. Charlie and I? That's just… insane."

"I wish I could tell you how to deal with it, but unfortunately, I'm not the best adviser in that area. But I do know that time makes you stronger so you can face the memories afterwards. Time is the only thing that will make you feel better, I assure you. That pain you feel in your chest is not going to leave magically, no matter how hard you try."

So there wasn't hope. Colby would have to wait and see how the hell the pain gradually abandoned his soul. The first thing to do would be calm down, obviously. If there was nothing he could do to make Charlie love him and be brave enough to give him a chance, then crying was pointless. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand and then stared at them. "Let's go to the FBI."

Colby was happy that David didn't insist on keep talking, because he had no energy for it. It had been a beautiful night the last one he had had with Charlie sprawled on his own bed; and it had been an awful morning the one he was living right now, because Charlie had hurt him so much by being so confused about what he felt.

Making his statement at the FBI made Colby's heart ache even more because he had to lie about the meaning of what Patrick Garner had said. He knew that Amita, Larry, Megan and David wouldn't say a word about it, and that Don and Alan didn't know about it. But lying reminded him of the moment he had been working as triple agent, and the pain of the memory completely crushed him.

He spent the fifteen minutes Charlie's talk about Patrick Garner lasted staring at some papers he had on his desk. He wasn't really seeing what was written in them; he was just running his pen over them, trying to do anything but looking at Charlie. And yet, Colby could felt Charlie's eyes on him sometimes, as well as everybody else's.

How could Charlie be right there in front of him giving his usual speech in such a natural way? It was like he had forgotten about everything they had experimented together last night. It was obvious that Charlie wasn't willing to take seriously what Colby felt, and that he wasn't going to try to analyze what last night had meant.

_Thank god that this was over soon. _When Colby got out of the FBI and saw the sun shining, he realized that David was right. The day was beautiful and it felt incredibly good to be outside. The calm of a sunny morning brought some light into Colby's heart. He put his sunglasses on and walked towards his car. _Stay calm and let time get rid of everything, and you'll survive._

When he got into his car, he saw David get out of the building and get into his own vehicle. And then Colby saw Amita approach his friend and ask him for a ride. Colby saw them both leaving in David's car. He didn't understand what was going on between those two, but he wasn't very interested in it at the moment. He wanted to be alone and try to relax before he lost all perspective.

He drove for a while and when he got tired of it, he decided to go home. He got to his apartment and when he opened its door, again everything seemed to be meaningless. His clothes on the bed, a little table on the corner, the kitchen to the left, the bedroom to the right.

For a moment he thought about what it would be like if Charlie could come to his apartment sometime, if they were lovers. It would have been so amazing having the mathematician talking about his theories, writing equations in a pile of papers, leaving little pieces of chalk everywhere, like the place belonged to him as well as it belonged to Colby.

Colby had to shake the dream out of his head. _What are you thinking about? That's not going to happen. Ever. This is reality, and in reality, dreams do not come true._

Of course, Colby wasn't expecting that the smell of Charlie on his own clothes made him want to cry again. He hadn't felt another person's smell in his garments in years. Having Charlie's everywhere was a sweet, slow torture that he wasn't willing to stand after all that had happened.

He took off his jacket… and then Colby realized that he had brought something from Charlie's house. He hadn't thought about it until now. The thing was in his pocket, and he got it out to take a look a it.

Even after all that Charlie had done to him, Colby had picked up one photo from the floor at the Eppes residence's entrance. The photograph was a little burnt in one corner, and it was folded in the other. It was a beautiful picture. Margaret was seated on the couch with her children Charlie and Don around her, each one of her sons taking one of her hands. Alan was probably the one behind the camera, because he didn't appear in the picture.

The image was so sweet that it made Colby smile. But that little smile soon became a sad grin. He had taken the picture because he thought that he could restore it and give it back to Charlie. For a moment, he had forgotten about all the pain he felt. When he had grabbed the photograph, all he was thinking about was making Charlie happy.

But it was all lost now. He left the picture on the little table he had on the corner of the apartment, and he sat on a chair. There was something about having that photo while Charlie didn't love him, that made him start to cry again.

He was alone now. No one was there to watch him break.

He leaned over the table and his tears fell onto it just below the place Margaret's photo was.

_Why did I have to go through this? Why couldn't things stay the way they were, so I wouldn't have to suffer so much? I'm the best when it comes to putting myself at danger. First I did it for Dwayne, then I did it for the FBI, and now I'm doing it for something stupid that I'm never going to get._

It was almost mid-day when he felt like he didn't have enough energy to do anything. He watched his apartment with sad eyes. It was mostly white, and there was so little furniture as in David's place because Colby didn't spend much time there. His watch was ticking, and he saw the hour.

_11.36… He must be on his way to his house to clean up Patrick Garner's mess and forget about me forever._

His expectations were definitely dying, when his phone rang.

"Granger."

"Um, hi…"

_You have to be kidding me._ "Charlie?"

"Do you have a minute?"

"Look, we've already said everything that we needed to say." _I'm not going to let you play with me anymore. It was enough. Time won't be able to work its magic on me if you keep messing with my head._

"No, I haven't. I told you I needed to clear my head… and well, I've made my decision."

So Charlie hadn't forgotten about him after all. He wasn't acting like nothing had happened. He had been thinking about Colby. _If he's going to let me go, then so be it. Maybe if I hear it from his own mouth I can start hating him a little._ "Oh… ok."

"I'd like to tell you this personally, but you're not at the FBI. Could we meet?"

Colby took a deep breath. _That makes no sense_. "No. Just… let's end this now."

"Um… Fine, if that's what you want…" Suddenly, Charlie's voice was weird, and he seemed to be very nervous. "I've decided that… I'd like to give us a second chance."

Colby's cell phone fell from his hands and when the agent went to grab it from the floor, his ears and his cheeks felt like burning. His heart was racing and his whole body was shaking. He put the device against his ear again and asked, "What?"

"Yeah… I've been thinking a lot and I realized there's something really meaningful between us. And I don't want to waste it. I want to live it. I want to… _be_… with you."

After Charlie's decision, Colby didn't know what to say. There was a very good possibility that Charlie would ask him to get away from him again in the future, but what if he was actually telling the truth? What if Charlie was definitely sure that he wanted to be with Colby?

There was no way on earth that Colby would waste that possibility. Suddenly, it didn't matter how much pain he could feel afterwards. He had to try.

"We could meet later at my apartment, if you'd like," he said, and his voice sounded a little cheery. He couldn't stop smiling, and he was crying again, this time because of the joy and happiness he felt.

"It's… perfect! I'll be there, I promise. I'll go home to fix some stuff and help my family to organize what we'll do about the damages, and then we'll talk."

"Charlie… I'm looking forward to seeing you there," Colby muttered. He was looking at Margaret, Don and Charlie's photograph on the table.

"Yeah…, me too. I really want to see the look on your face when you actually hear me say everything I want to tell you."

"Like what?" Colby asked. He was begging Charlie to reassure the connection. _Please, restore what we had. Please._

"I don't know… That you are the most important person in my life right now… That I don't want to be without you ever again… That there's so much for us to do together yet…"

Colby couldn't hold himself from laughing, and then he heard Charlie saying, "I'll be there, Colby. I promise."

It was so amazing to get a promise like that, now that Charlie's confusion seemed to be over. "Ok… Bye, then."

"Good bye…"

The sound of the cell phone being closed by Colby's hands made him feel connected to life again. That call could easily become his favorite memory ever. It could erase all the bad moments he and Charlie had shared.

Smiling and crying at the same time, Colby got up and started to clean up his apartment. If Charlie was going to visit it for the first time, he would find it tidy and perfect. Colby was willing to arrange everything for them to get together again in the nicest atmosphere ever.

When he looked at himself on the mirror running his fingers through his hair to make it a little spiky, just like he thought Charlie liked it, Colby had to stop to admire how much his own expression had changed after his lover's call. His eyes were covered with tears and his cheeks were still flushed, but there was hope in his face. And that was priceless.

He returned to his little living room and found the jacket he had discarded. Now having Charlie's smell on him wasn't so bad, but still, he wanted to receive Charlie properly, so he took a shower and dressed himself better. When he looked for his nicest clothes, he found the garments David had given him as gift. _The building man-stripper- clothes… Maybe for some other time._

While he giggled like a teenager in his first date ever, he put on some of his favorite cologne and then he started to walk around the table trying to think about how to fix the picture he had taken from Charlie's house. _C'mon, Granger. Think before he gets here._

Ten minutes later, he hadn't made a lot of progress. He wasn't an expert on restoring photographs. He needed to consult a professional.

He was about to make a phone call to the person who had restored his father's old pictures, when the apartment's bell rang.

Colby ran to the door and opened it. "Hey!" he said, feeling happier than ever before. But he stopped smiling when he saw Charlie's face covered in tears and the mathematician's mad expression. "What happened?"

"Don."

"What? Should we go to the FBI?" Colby asked, because if Don was in danger or at the hospital, he would definitely take Charlie there and be with him all day and night to support him.

"No." Charlie swallowed, breathing hard. "Don knows."

Colby's joy disappeared and a bad feeling started to grow inside his heart. When Charlie entered the apartment and the agent closed the door, it seemed like everything was about to go to hell again.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	19. Slow down

**Title:** "Slow down"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 19/23  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** After 7 chapters of conflict, Colby and Charlie talk about their feelings.

**Feedback:** Yes, please…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the original ideas and my OCs.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_The Connections_ Series

**Part 19: "Slow down"**

"Don knows," Charlie said and he came into Colby's apartment, holding his head.

Colby closed the door and he turned to the man he loved. "How?"

"He heard me talking to you over the phone… And then…" In that moment, Charlie seemed about to break again, and he hid his face under his slim hands.

"Then, what?" Colby asked, and he approached Charlie, worried because the other one was crying. "Charlie, what happened exactly?"

When Charlie took his hands off his face, he was flushed and he was trembling. "He pretended that he hadn't heard anything and then when I was about to come here, he let it all out. He said that he didn't understand how this happened between us so fast, why I left Amita for you… And you know what the worst thing is?"

"No, what is it?"

"That inside my head I knew that I didn't have an answer to any of that."

Charlie stared at Colby with teary sad eyes, like he was apologizing for not having known what to say to Don. But then Colby muttered very sure of himself, "Look, I don't know how to answer to that either. I just know that it happened."

Now, it seemed that Charlie was a little calmer. He took a deep breath and said, "Yeah…"

There was a question Colby needed to make before he got too excited about Charlie's arrival. After all, now that Don knew and had not taken the news well, there was a huge possibility that Charlie could retreat about everything he had said over the phone. He had done it before; why wouldn't he do it now? It seemed that he always played with Colby's heart, making him feel loved and appreciated, to ask him to back off afterwards. But as much as Colby hated that, he also knew that Charlie was just confused and didn't know how to handle his feelings.

He took the deepest breath he had ever taken in his life and just said what he was thinking about. "It's ok, Charlie. I understand."

It seemed that Charlie hadn't gotten what Colby meant, because he looked at him and asked, "Understand what?"

"That you need time."

"Time?" Charlie looked completely puzzled.

"Yeah, time to think."

After saying those words, Colby's heart started to ache like it had done it a few hours ago. He had brought up the issue, and now he would have to deal with Charlie's voice saying that he wanted to leave him again._ All that excitement about you getting here was in vain. Now, besides being stupid, I hate myself. _Colby leaned against the wall looking at the floor with empty eyes. _I'm a lost case when it comes to choosing who to love._ "Go, Charlie."

"Go where? Colby, I don't get what you're saying."

_Don't try to pretend that you're not going to leave me again before we start something out. I already told you that it's ok. _Now Colby was annoyed by the way Charlie tried to act like he wouldn't freak out like he always did. He shook his head and looked at the other man. "Charlie, you need time to think. Are you going to tell me that you're ok with what Don said? That's not you. You always over think everything, and this one is big, so you're not going to let it go in like a second."

Charlie stared at Colby for a moment and he wiped the tears of his face. "Of course I'm not ok with what Don thinks. Of course I over think everything. Of course I'm not going to let this go!"

"See? I knew it," Colby said with irony, and he shook his head. There it was the confirmation of his predictions. He was going to be rejected again.

But Charlie kept talking. "He's my brother! He said that he doesn't understand me, which is not new, but I thought we were making a lot of progress by working together during these last years. Now it seems like we have gone back in time!" As Colby wasn't saying anything, Charlie continued, "I've never criticized the way he behaves with the women he dates, at least not in a way that could hurt him! I've never judged him about anything! And yet, this time… I did."

Although he had lost all hope, Colby paid attention to what Charlie was saying. The fact that he had stood up at his brother was something different that Colby had expected him to do. There would be consequences to that, and Colby didn't want Charlie to get into a terrible fight with Don. He shifted his position against the wall and waited.

"I told him that he doesn't know the first thing about love. He's been with lots of women, but he's never had a stable relationship. What can he know about what we have?"

Considering the way Charlie was telling him what the conversation with Don had been like, Colby started to wonder what Charlie was trying to say exactly. Sometimes he sounded like he wanted to go back with him, and sometimes he sounded like he was going to leave Colby for like the fifth time. Charlie's thoughts were very difficult to figure out sometimes, and Colby would have to wait to find out what his words really meant. Still, he needed to make a point. "Charlie, what we have is not a stable relationship. It's… a thing, nothing more."

Charlie jumped in his place, and he looked completely amused. "Wait, what? That doesn't make any sense!"

"You know what? Save it, Charlie. Just save it." _Don't start this all over again, we have no future together._

"Save _what_?"

"Your little speech. Everything you say to make me fall for you, so you can dump me later because you're not sure and no one understands us."

"But…"

Colby was tired of everything. He wanted to speak his mind and let the craziness go. "Because after all, you're right, you know? I shouldn't have forced you to go to bed with me. You weren't ready."

"Colby…"

"So that's why I told you to go. It's ok if you need time for yourself, and it's ok if you decide that you really don't want to have anything to do with me. I won't chase you. You're free to do what you think it's best for you. I don't want to make you do something that you could regret later. I care about you too much to not bother you again. We'll be work partners, nothing else."

He stopped, placing his hands on his hips and breathing slowly. Charlie was silent in front of him, waiting for his turn to talk. _C'mon, say it. Say that all of what we had was a mistake and that you want to be alone, so I can start living my life like a normal person again._

And Charlie spoke. "Are you done?"

Colby stared at him. "Yes," he responded, and saw the other man open his bag.

"Then you should see what I've been working on. It's a probability analysis that has helped me to determine if…"

_What the hell are you talking about?_ "Charlie, stop."

"But this is very important for us," Charlie insisted.

"Well, stop anyway, because you're making me crazy. What does math have to do with anything? We're talking about us, and we've decided that in fact there's no 'us'!"

"Colby, would you just _shut up_?!" Charlie yelled sweetly, and that was weird enough to make Colby's train of thought stop.

Colby remained silent, his face in an amused expression. But then he whispered, "No."

"Fine, then you won't hear the reasons why I chose to give this a try."

_Wha--_ Colby thought that he was about to faint. What was going on exactly? "Ok, I need to sit down," he muttered, because it was all so unexpected. He sat at the table and he knew his mind was blank. He rubbed his face, trying to wake up from the most confusing dream ever. "What did you just say?"

He looked at Charlie and saw his figure against the light that came through the window. "I said the same that I did over the phone. I want us to have our chance."

Colby felt dizzy and he could only concentrate on Charlie's voice and Charlie's face. The rest of the world didn't exist. He stared at the mathematician waiting for more sweet words, maybe some of those Charlie had told him on the phone. But he started pulling out papers from his bag, covering the whole table with them, even Margaret's picture.

Immediately, a very excited Charlie started to talk very fast while he wrote equations and graphics and symbols that Colby had no idea what they meant. In fact, Colby didn't hear anything that the mathematician tried to explain to him. He was just overwhelmed, and he needed a minute to process the information.

"And this is the result," Charlie stated, grabbing the last paper he had been writing on, and he showed it to Colby. "There's a 5 percent chance that we can do well as a couple and that people accept us being together."

_Ok, now hold on_. The agent rubbed his eyes and said, "5 percent? That's it? It's a very low percentage."

"Yeah, so?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not a good sign for a potential relationship." Now Colby didn't understand anything. He wasn't an expert on math, but 5 percent was definitely not a good number.

"Yeah, but it means a whole world of possibilities! Besides, given the implications…"

Colby got up and went towards Charlie. "Look, I don't really care about the implications. I care about the fact that you're making a decision based only on probabilities, not on what you feel. If the percentage would have been lower, you wouldn't be here, right? I don't want you to do this just because of an equation, even if the result was 100 percent."

Charlie didn't say anything for a few seconds. But then he went towards Colby and put one hand on each one of his shoulders. Very close to his lover's face, he muttered, "Colby, this goes beyond the numbers."

In that moment, Colby's barriers went down. He kept listening to Charlie, his eyes dancing over the other man's smile and warm eyes.

"I'm not going to run away anymore. Even if 5 percent is a very small percentage, it means something. And even if it didn't, for the first time in my life I don't mind about going against the odds," Charlie muttered, and he was flushing. His voice was shaky and sweet.

That was everything that Colby had wanted Charlie to say to him during the last days. He remembered well the moment he had told David that he wished Charlie told him that he wanted to give a relationship a shot, no matter what the results were. _You said it. You just said it._

"But what about Don, what about everybody else?" Colby asked, because everything had come up just the way he wanted to, and that was very suspicious.

Charlie came closer to him, and Colby could feel him breathe. "We'll handle it. I don't know how, but we'll do it… I'm not saying that we go public. I'm saying that we try to do our best when it comes to the people who already know about us, and let the rest of the world wonder…"

_I'm not prepared to suffer again. One can never be too sure._ "I'm sorry, Charlie, but I have to ask you this," Colby swallowed hard, and it was very difficult for him not to kiss Charlie right there and then. It was pretty much the same situation that he had been through during Friday night. The one he loved the most was giving himself to him, and yet, Colby didn't want to push him. So he asked, "Are you sure?"

Immediately, Charlie nodded, still smiling. "Yeah. I'm sure now."

Colby licked his own lips and felt the sweet pressure of Charlie's hands on his shoulders. His lover was gently squeezing them in a gesture that was making him weak. _This is too good to be true. _"Look, there were too many ups and downs since this started. I couldn't stand to hear you say that you want to retreat, like you did this morning." He knew that he was about to cry, that saying that to Charlie was painful because he wanted him so badly and yet he wanted to keep his heart unbroken.

"Colby, are you changing your mind about us?" Charlie asked, and he stepped aside a little. His face was flushed and he swallowed hard. There were his adorable eyes begging Colby to say that he wanted them to be together, too.

"That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that we should probably slow down, take some time to think about this…"

"You don't believe me that I really want this."

"Well, of course I can't be sure about it, after all that's happened! You just broke up with Amita, she was in danger, you took Don's gun, which by the way was insane!"

"I did it to save you both! I still care about her as a friend, and-"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Charlie. No one gets over someone so fast. You must still have strong, romantic feelings for her!"

"No, that's not true!" Charlie yelled, and he made big gestures with his hands. "I appreciate her, but not that way! She's not you; in fact, she'll _never_ be you!"

And Charlie reached for Colby and kissed him strong enough to leave bruises. Colby first melted to it, but then he pushed Charlie away. "I don't want it this way. Not when you're impulsive and you do the first thing that comes to your head. I don't want another Friday night."

"I know that I hurt you, but I want to make things right…! Is there any chance that you let me at least try? I promise I won't make you suffer again," Charlie said, and he went towards the table. He grabbed one of the papers that were full of numbers and waved it to Colby. "This counts for me, but I'm willing to not consider it _because of you_, see? Isn't that a non-impulsive way to show you how much I want to be with you?"

He reached for another paper, and when he took it, he found Margaret's picture under it. Colby shook his head and put his hands on his face. _How the hell will I be able to explain to him his mother's picture's here?_

"Colby, what's this?" Charlie reached for the photograph and looked at it.

"I'm sorry that I took it from your house, I just wanted to restore it so you could have it just as it used to be…" Trembling from head to feet, Colby waited for Charlie to give him a response.

But the mathematician wasn't saying anything. He was just running his fingers over the photograph, and tears were running down his face.

"Charlie, I'm really sorry… Yell at me if you want you, I understand that-"

"Colby…"

When Charlie turned to see Colby in the eye, he was crying, but in a different way than when he had just arrived to the apartment. Those were tears of happiness, and Colby was sure of it. The other man looked touched by his gesture, and seemed about to break.

"You were going to restore it? For me?" Charlie continued.

Colby took a breath. "Yeah."

It was unexpected for Colby to watch Charlie leave the picture on the table and go towards him. And it was incredible to feel a teary Charlie kissing him so sweetly that the agent thought that he was going to literally melt against him. It was a light touch that always made him want to make love to Charlie immediately.

So first Colby kissed his lover back, but then the need to be careful took him out of his perfect fantasy. He broke the kiss and said, "Wait."

"No," Charlie stated, and he tried to press his lips against Colby's again. He was kindly rejected.

"Yes, we should wait… We should slow down. We rushed too much when we went to bed together without thinking about what we really felt."

"But that's not the situation anymore. Don't you get it, Colby? Don't you _feel_ that I really, really like you, and that I want to see if you're _the one person_ I'm supposed to be with?"

Now Charlie was really breaking, and he stepped backwards, covering his face with his hands, and crying loudly. "Why, why, _why _don't you want me?" he said over and over, and Colby couldn't stop the tears from coming to his eyes, too.

"I do want you, Charlie. I want you, too," he said.

Charlie lifted his gaze and went towards him.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	20. I'm ready

**Title:** "I'm ready"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 20/23  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby  
**Rating:** **MA (Explicit adult content)**  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Can Charlie and Colby actually slow down?

**Feedback:** Yes, please…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the original ideas and my OCs.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_The Connections_ Series

**Part 20: "I'm ready…"**

Charlie immediately went towards Colby and cupped his face. "No, Colby. Please, don't cry… You never cry."

After his lover's words, Colby looked at the floor, feeling completely embarrassed, because he had cried over Charlie that same day. "Well, everybody cries when they're hurt."

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" Charlie kissed the other man's cheek in the sweetest way ever. "Let me fix this… Let me, please…"

"What about slowing down?"

There was a moment in which they stared at each other, both with teary eyes and flushed cheeks. But Charlie broke the silence and muttered very close to Colby's mouth, "I get your point, and I actually think that you're right. If that will make you believe me, I'll slow down as much as you want…"

"Really? You'll stop asking me to kiss you, you'll stop being so impulsive?"

"Yeah. Anything you want, as long as we're together."

They were talking in whispers, still crying softly. Charlie caressed Colby's cheeks with the tip of his fingers, and he started to retreat, so he could give the other man some of the space he wanted so badly.

And then Colby suddenly reached for him; their mouths crushed in an intense, fierce kiss.

Colby had made the first step now. And Charlie hadn't resisted. Because they _knew_ they wouldn't be able to slow down. They had longed for each other for so long…

They messily put their arms around each other, the need to feel each other was too deep and the fire that was burning inside them was more alive than ever.

They walked backwards and stumbled with one of the walls. Charlie was pressed against it, breathing hard between wet kisses, molding his hands to Colby's torso, running his fingers over his back.

He held Colby like he didn't want to let him go and moaned when his lover placed an open-mouthed kiss just below his right ear. Charlie squeezed his eyes and felt like his brain was about to die from the pleasure provided to that magnificent spot.

Unexpectedly, Colby ran his tongue in circles over that amazingly sensitive place, making Charlie jump hard against the wall and tug at his light blue shirt. The mathematician wanted to rip it off right now and see Colby just as he was for the second time in less than 24 hours. So Colby himself, helped by Charlie's skilled hands, took the shirt off and threw it to the floor, far away.

A moment later, they were kissing while removing each other's belts… And right after they had discarded them, Colby felt Charlie's fingers cupping his ass while the mathematician dipped his tongue deep inside the agent's hot mouth at the same time… Finally, Colby enjoyed Charlie's tongue on his chest… getting lower and lower…

And then Charlie knelt and with a desperate pleading on his eyes, looked up. He waited for Colby to understand what he wanted.

Colby became silent and he looked back at his lover. He could feel the firm grip on his jeans at the knees and he knew that his mouth was hanging open because of the image he had in front of his eyes. From there he could see his own jeans open and a little part of his boxers underneath them. Of course, he could also observe the bulge that was rapidly glowing inside them. But what turned him on the most was seeing Charlie just centimeters away from it, begging to be able to… Oh god, just the thought of it…

"Colby… Please, lie on the rug…"

Charlie wiped his tears. Colby thought he was so kind and respectful all the time. He remembered well when the mathematician had begged his permission to fuck him the night before, even if they were going to take things slow, without any kind of expectations in their first time together.

But this wasn't their first time. And there were so many things they hadn't tried out yet. _So_ many things_._

Even knowing that most certainly he could die from watching Charlie suck him off, Colby nodded and silently sat on the rug they were both standing in. He looked at his lover, who was waiting for him to get in a more comfortable position, and then he lay on his back. Colby wanted to survive to this fantastic experience, so he wasn't going to look…

He jumped in his place when he felt again Charlie's hands caressing his thighs. It was a signal that Charlie was trying to make him relax, that he knew how nervous Colby was at the moment.

But Colby couldn't hold his excitement and he opened his mouth in a silent moan when Charlie placed a hot kiss on his bellybutton. The unexpected sensation made a shiver run down Colby's spine and provoked his cock to pulse, still waiting to be touched just the right way.

It was impossible for Colby not to look at Charlie when he lowered the agent's jeans and boxers until they were around his ankles. "Oh, god," Colby muttered when he could see himself with his legs open and his hard cock throbbing and already leaking. And what was even more fantastic, Charlie just stared at Colby's length with flushed cheeks and a shy look and licked his own lips in anticipation.

This was about to happen, and Colby wouldn't be able to handle the sensations. So he just looked away, at the ceiling, and felt completely at Charlie's mercy. And suddenly he realized that it was such a delicious feeling to trust his lover and to know that he would take care of him so well.

From Charlie's view, Colby was the only man he had ever seen like this. He was the only man that could get him so aroused and make him feel so important and wanted and loved.

Charlie lowered his gaze again to admire the way Colby's cock pulsed and screamed to be caressed. The tip was covered in precum and it was just so hot, all of this because of the anticipation. Experimentally, because he had never done this before with a man, Charlie licked the ridge of Colby's cock while he ran his thumb over the tip.

The agent's green eyes opened wide and he gasped for air. And this was just the beginning of a blowjob. How could this be so good already, when there was so much more to come? Colby giggled in embarrassment and pleasure, but he stopped smiling and moaned softly when he felt Charlie's tongue running down his cock until it reached the tip. Very slowly that warm wet tongue pressed flat to it and then swirled around it trying to get the first taste.

Colby's scent was musky, and his taste was addictive. Charlie took a deep breath of it and kept running his tongue over that sensitive cock, rewarding himself with some precum and waiting for Colby to feel ready enough for the next step. Apparently, he wasn't doing it wrong, even if he was being guided only by his own intuition. His lover was whimpering, digging his fingers into the rug, not being able to squeeze anything to restrain himself from going completely wild.

Just watching Colby's cock throb while he applied it some proper pressure, Charlie felt it was time to do what both of them knew was coming. He couldn't stop wondering how amazing it would be to have that sharp amazing taste, and that firm hot flesh against his tongue… After a few seconds of thinking about it, he looked at Colby's flushed face and urgently took half of his cock into his mouth.

It wasn't weird for Charlie to do it. It could have been if it wasn't Colby the one who was panting beneath him. It was so magnificent to see him whimper, staring at the ceiling, the soft light of the beginning of the afternoon on his thin, trembling eyelashes tremble and his beautiful green eyes open in shock and pleasure.

Colby was starting to move his hips, still not thrusting but definitely wanting more. Charlie wasn't prepared for the arousal this built inside his chest and his groin, but he was eager to respond in any way he could to make his lover enjoy this moment the most. So he swallowed Colby's cock and didn't stop when the other man couldn't take it anymore and started thrusting into his mouth.

The next seconds weren't spent in silence. Colby gasped and whimpered, desperate to get more, and Charlie gave it to him by moaning deeply. The vibration sent cold shivers again to Colby's body, this time to the sides of it, not the spine, and he knew he was about to come.

Of course Colby remembered that Charlie had licked his cum from his fingers when they had been together before. But the idea of swallowing it from his hard cock suddenly seemed very different. Maybe Charlie wasn't ready for that yet. It was important to make a warning so there would be no regrets later.

In between moans, Colby managed to say with a trembling voice, "Charlie… I'm about to… you know…"

Charlie sucked him harder, not wanting to stop.

"Please, Charlie… I don't think you're ready… for that…"

Still, Charlie didn't want to retreat. He sucked Colby's cock even harder to send that message, but apparently Colby had taken the decision for both of them.

"Charlie, stop…"

It seemed that Colby didn't understand with actions that Charlie really wanted him to come inside his mouth, that he wanted his lover to know that he was prepared for the last part of a blowjob, that he would gladly milk him until the end.

"No, Charlie, please, let it go… We should talk about this first…"

Colby reached for Charlie's head and tried to take his length out of that hot mouth. He wanted to come inside it, but he wanted more to make sure that Charlie was really up to it in a conscious way, not just because of the arousal. They had time. They could try some others things first, make their relationship grow gradually until the perfect time to do this came.

Finally, he got to make Charlie let his cock go, but when this happened, the friction of Charlie's tongue against the tip of his length made him lose all control. He came with heavy spurts and had to throw his head back while he moaned loudly.

He spent a few seconds trying to get himself together. He had to find the energy to breathe again and again until his heart stopped racing and got to normal rhythm.

Suddenly, he remembered what he had just done. Colby thought about what Charlie's reaction to his rejection could be, and desperate to find out, he rested on his elbows and looked at his lover.

His mouth hanged open when he saw that Charlie was still between his legs, looking at Colby's saliva glistening cock, which now was getting softer. He had several parts of his face covered in warm cum. Some of it was even close to his mouth.

Colby thought this was as sexy as feeling him sucking his cock. But he wasn't expecting Charlie to do what he was about to do.

Like he wasn't aware of Colby's presence right there in front of him, Charlie lifted his hand and ran it over the cum that was dripping down his face. He looked at it and with dark eyes lazily he approached the fingers to his own mouth. Then he stucked out his tongue just a little and barely licked them. Finally, Charlie closed his eyes, took two fingers into his mouth and sucked them with lust.

And then he looked at Colby.

The agent's eyes were fixed on the fingers that were lost inside Charlie's mouth, but then Colby stared at Charlie's heavy look, still in silence. This was way hotter than anything they've done until now. His brain had completely turned off.

In amusement, he watched Charlie get up and take off his own clothes without taking his eyes off of Colby. The agent thought it was perfect. He was almost naked, but Charlie was still completely dressed, except for his belt.

When Charlie was naked, he stared down at Colby through lowered lashes. His curls were all a mess, his eyes were dark, his face was covered in little spots of cum, his lips were swollen. And his cock was hard, the tip glistening just like Colby's had been a minute ago. Although Colby was starting to get hard again.

Colby admired the beauty of that thin perfect body that was going to ravish him at any second, and he felt desire going back to his insides. While he was trying to manage that, he saw Charlie kneel again on the rug and felt him pressing his warm body against his.

It was reassuring to reach for that soft skin again, take it closer and closer until there was no air between them. Charlie's hands ran over his chest, caressing his nipples with feather touches, while Colby's hands covered the mathematician's back.

Charlie was thrusting against Colby's thigh, trying to get some friction just now, because he couldn't take it anymore. Pure instinct made him shift that position and place himself between the legs of the delicious man he had underneath him.

The first brush of their leaking cocks made both men gasp in unison into each other's mouths. They opened their lips and very slowly swirled their tongues connecting them in light friction. Eyes closed, minds not aware, or even interested, in the window, the white room, the white rug they were making love on. Two sweaty bodies only focused on trying to become one.

It was incredible how good it felt the way the different parts of their bodies fit together. They molded against each other naturally, like they were two soul mates celebrating the ritual of merging to form a single system.

Charlie moaned a little louder and placed his hands on each side of Colby's face. While the agent thrust back to get some more of the delightful friction, he got the courage to talk in whispers. "Colby... would you…?"

"Mmm?" Colby muttered lovingly, his eyes still closed, his mouth open, his senses enjoying the nearness of Charlie's body.

"Would you _fuck me_?"

Charlie's voice was begging Colby to make him his with the sweetest tone. It seemed that he wasn't sure of what Colby might respond.

The question actually took Colby by surprise. He hadn't thought Charlie would want to be fucked; he had never considered the possibility, given the fact that he had asked Colby to be on the receiving end the night before.

But hearing and seeing Charlie pleading him to give him the ultimate pleasure was the most intimate proposal Colby had ever received. It was completely irresistible. With those dark brown eyes, those swollen lips that had provided him such pleasure, and that skilled hands… it was impossible to reject what Charlie needed so badly.

And then Charlie repeated, "Please… please, fuck me…"

"Are you s-"

"I'm ready…"

Charlie waited for Colby's answer, and when it came, it wasn't represented in words but in actions. Colby slowly grabbed Charlie's arms and gently asked him to step away for a second.

Without thinking about it twice, the mathematician agreed, nodded and lay on the rug while he watched Colby trying to get up. He thought the agent was going to fuck him now, but Colby simply walked awkwardly towards the room. It was actually funny because he still had his shoes on and his jeans and boxers around his ankles.

When Colby got to his bedroom, he tried to get out of the remaining clothes so he could move better and be more comfortable. He was about to come free of his garments when he felt Charlie's hands embracing his torso and his hips. Surprised, Colby laughed, and he heard Charlie laughing too.

They stumbled together until they got to the closet. While Colby pulled almost his stuff out of it and threw it away, trying to find something in particular, he gasped and giggled because Charlie was making desperate efforts to get him out of the rest of his clothes.

"Charlie, wait a second, we've got time…!" he said in amusement.

Charlie's voice and kisses on his ear made him want to rush things. "We also said that we would slow down… but it seems that we're not able to do that. Hurry up, please…"

"We need condoms… and lube…" Colby moaned, reaching for more of his stuff. "You know, we should be careful… just in case. We weren't the last time…"

"Mmm… Why do you think that matters? It's not like I'm going to get pregnant..."

"Of course not, but… I just think…"

"It's ok… We can use a condom if you're more comfortable with it… Whatever you want to do is more than fine with me, as long as you… make me yours…"

The touch of Charlie's fingers against his hard nipples made Colby desperately look for what he needed. He found a condom and some lube at the bottom of the closet, and made a triumphal sound when he pulled them out. "Oh, finally!"

"Oh finally, indeed…" Charlie whispered, breathing into his lover's ear.

Colby took a deep breath, closing his eyes, feeling those warm lips against his ear, and he almost let the condom and the little lube pot fall from his hand. When he noticed it, he had the urge to say something that he thought was relevant. "Charlie, you should know that… I haven't done this for a long time… You know what I mean…"

"Really? I would have never known, since you did it so well last night," Charlie reminded him. He was smiling, but then he got serious and said, "You don't have to worry about anything, Colby… Just go with the flow and everything will be fine…"

For Colby it was really interesting to see how confident and sure Charlie sounded. Less than twenty four hours ago, _he_ had been the one to tell the mathematician that. Now, they had switched roles, even if they were on the same page.

"Ok… so, where…?" Colby tried to ask, but he didn't finish his question and just swallowed hard when he met Charlie's eyes.

The only thing Charlie did was to look at the wall that was next to the rug they had been laying on a minute before. Then he watched Colby, who nodded again. Together they returned to the living room and showed how much they wanted each other with wet kisses one more time.

When Colby put his hands on Charlie's shoulders, trying to let him know that he was ready for this, the mathematician went towards the wall and pressed his own body to it, facing away from his lover.

Now it was Colby's turn to be the top, and it was so amazing and sexy for him to see Charlie waiting for him to fully take him. He approached him and admired Charlie's ass, very aware that he would be inside of him very soon. Anticipation made him tremble and he muttered, "Could you please… open your legs a little further?"

"Oh, yeah… sure," Charlie responded, and he definitely wasn't as commanding as he had been before. The tone of his voice was shy, like he wanted this to happen right now because he had been waiting for it for ages.

When Charlie opened his legs, Colby thought that at this point of their lovemaking and all what they had been through, asking his lover if he was sure about this was meaningless. Charlie was completely giving himself to Colby this time, he had asked him to lovingly fuck him and had not taken it back. Even if he had never, ever done this before.

It was going to get some time to warm Charlie up, Colby was sure. He took a swipe of lube and very slowly ran one finger up and down Charlie's ass crack. He felt his lover jump because it was cold, but then with Colby's caresses and kisses, Charlie finally relaxed and got to enjoy the sensation of being opened up by the soft, lovely hands of Special Agent Colby Granger.

Colby could feel Charlie warming up and moaning in pleasure as slicked fingers entered him deeper and deeper, always gradually, being careful of not hurting him. He heard him whine "Colby…" but still, he continued stretching his lover's hole. In fact, Colby kissed the skin around it, because it was a the sweet virgin ass of the only man that could make him go crazy.

But Charlie wasn't willing to wait much longer. He knew his cock had been hard for several minutes now, and that those warm fingers where making him moan incoherent words and Colby's name. He wouldn't last much, and he wanted to have his release with his lover buried deep inside him.

He started to fuck himself on Colby's incredible fingers, because he didn't dare to ask for what he really wanted. He had begged his lover to take him, and yet now he was totally vulnerable and about to break, and he was going shy. There was no reason for that to happen, but that was definitely the reason for him to show Colby his joy with moans and whimpers, and not direct orders anymore.

There was only one word that his mouth could say, and it was "Colby… Colby…" over and over again.

And finally, when he felt the agent's cock brushing his entrance, he swallowed hard. Then Colby gently entered his cock into Charlie's ass, making them both gasp and turn their heads to the side.

Colby retreated and entered his lover again, putting his hands around his beautiful torso. He and Charlie moaned louder and louder with every thrust, but the mathematician had another idea in his mind --a shift of position.

He pushed Colby away from him, turned around and kept pushing him until his lover's back hit against the opposite wall. Then Charlie turned around again, facing away from Colby, and waited.

Colby immediately guided himself again inside him, and when he was surrounded by that tight heat one more time, he lifted his head and gasped while taking Charlie closer, not wanting to let him go. He discovered that there was no need for him to take a firm grip on Charlie's hips. Charlie himself had placed his hands on Colby's ass, right between the agent's body and the wall, and he was helping him to thrust harder into his own puckered hole.

There was nothing hotter and lovelier than watching Charlie's face while he was getting fucked. Maybe Colby didn't have a full view of it, but the profile of it was beautiful enough to make him stare at it. Charlie had his eyes closed, his cheeks were red and little drops of sweat were dripping down it, mixing with the cum that was starting to get dry. His mouth was barely open and he was gasping and moaning very softly with each thrust he felt.

The urge to kiss him took Colby by surprise. So he turned around Charlie's head a little, he reached for that mouth, licked it slowly and tenderly until those lips were glistening and more swollen than ever.

Charlie enjoyed the kiss and continued whining in a shy way until Colby sped up the pace. However, the mathematician didn't go with the faster movements; he just let Colby take control. He kept his eyes closed, feeling the connection of his body and his lover's joined in a private session of sweet love.

With one hard thrust Colby came hard and punched his head against the wall when he threw it back. Seconds later, Charlie couldn't hold himself anymore and he let go. His cock suddenly shot his load all over the rug.

Now that they both had had their release, Charlie and Colby lost their force and they just let themselves slowly slide down the wall until they could sat on the rug. There, they tried to catch their breath.

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Charlie was the first to talk. "Are… are you ok?" he asked in a whisper, still not opening his eyes.

Colby, who was still buried inside him, remembered that he had hurt his head, but he knew it was nothing serious. "Yeah… it was nothing…" He closed his eyes too.

None of them wanted to wake up from the delicious stillness of heart they felt after what they had done. Lovingly, Colby embraced Charlie's body a little closer, and he felt the mathematician's hands caressing his arms.

"Colby…"

"Yeah?"

"Can we stay… like this… for a while…?"

"Huh… I was about to ask you… the same thing…"

"Ok…" Charlie whispered.

"Ok…" Colby responded, breathlessly.

They spent ten minutes enjoying the sensation of being truly loved by another person. It was something they had never felt before. They had never felt what it was like to have such a perfect connection with another human being on earth.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	21. Embracing the connection

**Title:** "Embracing the connection"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 21/23  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby  
**Rating:** M, although in other rating systems this chapter would be R due to topic conversation and imagery.  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Charlie and Colby start to embrace the fact that they really want to be together.

**Feedback:** Yes, please…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the original ideas and my OCs.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_The Connections_ Series

**Part 21: "Embracing the connection"**

It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon when Charlie whispered, "Hey, Colby?"

"Mhm?"

It was all so silent, except for their voices.

Charlie laughed a bit at the sight of the relaxed grin on Colby's face. The agent was still with his eyes closed, his chin resting on his lover's shoulder while his arms still embraced him sweetly.

They hadn't moved in ten minutes. They had spent that time without saying a word, Colby still inside Charlie against the wall, on the rug, waiting for the warm feeling inside their hearts to vanish.

But it hadn't. It was exactly the same right now.

"Would you mind if I'd use your bathroom for a minute?" Charlie asked, admiring Colby's perfect skin.

The agent held him closer, not wanting to let him go. "No… Don't get up, let's stay like this for a while longer…"

Again, the mathematician laughed, and he caressed Colby's hands with light touches. "I'd love to, but I have to… clean myself."

Colby opened his eyes, suddenly remembering all they had done. He saw Charlie's face covered with little spots of dry cum, and immediately blushed. The images of his lover giving him pleasure made Colby stare at Charlie, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Hey, it's ok…" Charlie muttered, knowing what Colby was thinking. He cupped his lover's face. "I liked it."

Now Colby swallowed and continued looking at Charlie in the eye. He was so different. Very early this morning, he had been shaking, nervous and reluctant to do anything, but now Charlie seemed very relaxed, warm and accepting of their situation.

The sweet pressure of Charlie's lips against his made Colby felt completely at the other man's mercy. He was totally melting against him, shocked that they had ended up making love again and this time Charlie hadn't freaked out.

Very slowly, Charlie got up, being careful to not hurt the agent with his movement. Colby watched him grab his clothes and walk naked to the bathroom. He stared at his lover's slim figure, still not being able to wake up and believe the dream.

Inside of the bathroom, Charlie put on his pants and his dress shirt, and smiled looking at the way things were arranged in Colby's way. It was all so simple and tidy. After admiring the order of things, so different from his messy office, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw the dry cum on his face. It reunited a whole universe of meanings.

He smiled and then tried to get something to clean himself. He looked in the shower but he couldn't find anything that seemed to be useful. And when Charlie turned around, there was Colby leaning on the doorframe, already messily dressed.

"Oh, Colby… I'm sorry, I was looking for something to wash my face… Oh, look! Here there's at least soap…"

Colby stared at Charlie in silence and watched him turn on the water on the sink, soap his hands and then his face. The mathematician was at his apartment. Half-naked. After having sex with him. Against the wall. On the rug. And he was trying to get his cum off his face.

But of course, the cum was hard to clean.

"That's not going to work, Charlie," Colby said in a whisper, "I think I have something else …" He went to the bedroom and returned to the bathroom carrying a bottle of shampoo. "Here. It's a little old, but it might help you to… you know." He couldn't say it. He couldn't say anything explicit related to what they had done, even if he knew that it would immediately turn him on again. Dirty talk was something that had always fascinated him and aroused him, but it was some kind of taboo that he couldn't free himself from.

"Thank you."

Very slowly, Charlie used a little bit of shampoo to wash his face again very carefully. But still, the tiny spots were giving him a hard time. "It's not working either. Did you say that it was old?"

"Yeah, but I think the problem is that you're not doing it right. Here, let me." Colby went towards Charlie, let water run over his hands and then he started to apply some more energy to his lover's skin. He watched Charlie closely while he rubbed his face, and while he was concentrated on doing it right, the mathematician started to give him an unexpected look.

It was still all so new for Charlie. He didn't even know that he could get turned on because of Colby trying to clean his cum off his face.

When Colby suddenly realized what Charlie was thinking about, he stopped scrubbing his face and waited.

"Do you think it's normal that I…?" Charlie breathed hard and looked down at his own erection, which was hard against his pants.

Colby followed Charlie's eyes and jumped in his place. "Wow."

"I know. I've never wanted to do it all over again after only ten minutes."

Now the agent stared at him. "Wait, you're telling me that when you were with Amita, you never had like a… marathon or something?"

Charlie shook his head, his cheeks blushed under the shampoo. "Um… no, not really. Our intimacy wasn't that… intimate. At least not the same way it is between you and me…"

They stared at each other in silence, adjusting to the way they looked. They were a mess, their clothes all wrinkled, their hair tangled, and their skin blushed and sweaty. It would take them some time to get used to see each other like this. And it would also take them some time to control the desire to touch each other every time they met like this.

But Charlie was a little concerned about the way Colby was acting. Since he had gotten into the bathroom, it seemed like Colby had gone a little cold. Charlie didn't want to lose him now, when they had finally seemed to embrace their connection. He turned around and started to wash the cum off his skin. Applying a little more pressure, it disappeared. "You're kind of silent," he muttered, grabbing a towel and pressing it to his face.

Colby opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't. He had no words to explain how appreciated and fantastic he felt. Charlie was there, and he was his.

But Charlie couldn't know that, so he continued, "Did I do something that bothered you?"

Charlie looked so worried that Colby had to give him some response. "It's nothing, I just…" He looked into Charlie's dark eyes. "I just can't believe that this is finally happening. That we… you know, slept together… and that we're still here, with no regrets."

Charlie took a breath, looking into his lover's beautiful eyes too, and he reached for Colby's hand. He caressed it slowly and muttered, "Yeah, I know… This is pretty different from what happened this morning…" he felt like he was about to cry again at the memory of his foolish actions, and he covered his face with his hands. "I'm so sorry…"

"Charlie…" Colby pulled Charlie towards him and put his arms around him.

The mathematician was trembling and when he took his hands off his face, his eyes were teary again. "I'm really sorry… I shouldn't have told you all those things… I was so insensitive. I didn't think about what you'd feel, I thought about what people might say, which is just… stupid." He felt Colby's arms holding him tightly. "I hurt you so much…"

Slowly, Colby caressed his lover's hair and said very seriously, "Hey, you're here now. You didn't back out this time." They looked into each other's eyes for a second, the agent's fingers lightly touching the mathematician's curls. "I believe you. I believe that you're sure about this."

"Really? You do?" Charlie asked with his trembling voice, and he could see Colby nod and pull him closer. The kiss Charlie's lover gave him reassured him so much that he couldn't help starting to deepen it.

As the scenario was new, sexy in a weird way for them, Colby melted to Charlie's eagerness, feeling his hand on his hair too. But unexpectedly, just when things were heating up between them, the mathematician broke the kiss.

"I think I need to take a cold shower now," he muttered, stepping aside and shaking from head to feet.

"Are you ok?" Colby asked, a little worried about him, trying to control his own arousal.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm just not very used to getting this turned on when I'm so exhausted. It's a little overwhelming… scary, in a good way, of course," Charlie explained, and he ran his hands through his hair. "I guess that you don't understand me, but that's what I'm feeling right now."

"Well, I do understand, Charlie… I'm a little bit… on fire here too." Colby couldn't manage to make his lips say the exact words his heart wanted to share with Charlie; he just couldn't get into any kind of dirty talk. Not with anyone, and especially with his lover, if he didn't want to come right there and then.

"I know," Charlie muttered, looking at Colby's hardness, outlined by the fabric of his jeans.

In a moment of panic, Colby jumped in his place and turned around, his hands on his hips, trying to relax and stop thinking about having sex again with Charlie. "Ok, ok. Um… Look, I really want to take this slow."

"Colby…" Charlie warned him, pointing to their clothes, the way they looked, the wall and the rug of the apartment.

Colby lifted a hand, feeling his own face burn from embarrassment. "Yeah, I know that it's a little late for that, but I really think that now that we've got the sex out of the way, we should really slow down. I mean it."

"I know, and I actually agree. That's why I suggested the cold shower."

"Ok, you go first, and then I'll take my bath. Shampoos are right there, and here you have the towels." Very quickly, Colby showed Charlie the places where he kept his stuff in his very organized bathroom.

And before leaving, he kissed his lover sweetly on the lips a couple of times. Then he went to the living room and sat on his little sofa. He heard the sound of the shower being turned on, and some noises coming from the bathroom.

Thinking that he would live the dream as much as he could, Colby couldn't avoid smiling, joining his hands and caressing them together, one against another. They had touched Charlie in the most intimate way. But most important, he had been able to get to know a side of Charlie that he hadn't been able to really enjoy that morning because of the big fight they had had.

Now the apartment seemed complete. There were just a few things in it, and because of that, it had always seemed a little empty before; now it looked like a whole world of corners and places that Charlie could make his own.

He thought about everything that had happened until Charlie had finally given himself to him without regrets, and he was sure that it had been worth waiting for this moment to come. They hadn't taken things very slow, but then again, it seemed very natural for them to want to be together as much as they could.

Colby was lost in his own world for a few minutes until the bathroom's door opened and Charlie got out of it looking absolutely clean and adorable after his bath. His hair was arranged perfectly, even if his wrinkled clothes didn't look that good.

The mathematician went towards Colby and kissed him on the lips. "Hi… I'm done, you can go now."

Smiling, Colby muttered a little, "Ok," and he went to take his bath.

And Charlie was left alone to enjoy the view of his lover's apartment. He giggled at the thought of Colby's expression when he was making love to him, the way he moaned with pleasure at his every touch. He noticed himself trembling because of the warm feeling that he still held inside his chest.

He had taken the right choice. Colby's words, Colby's caresses, had rewarded him for not bailing on him. No matter what anybody said, he would try to do his best to remain beside Colby as long as he could.

Charlie ran his fingers over the shapes of the room. Some lamps on the corners, the soft fabric of the sofa, and the sharp edges of the TV screen. Even the curves of the curtains that framed the window were an expression of the kind of person Colby was.

And it was a kind that Charlie knew that he wouldn't be able to let go.

He smiled when he heard the bathroom's door, and turned around to receive Colby. When Charlie went towards him to give him a tight hug, Colby held his lover back, and they tenderly kissed each other.

"You know… I was thinking that we should go talk to my dad and Don."

"What?" Colby snapped, completely puzzled by Charlie's suggestion.

"Yeah, I think we should do it. I mean, what we have is not going to be over any time soon, so they should be aware of that. And swallow their criticism."

Astonished, Colby looked at the mathematician's warm eyes, and then kissed him again. "Ok, as you're so sure… Yeah, we could go."

"Great."

They kissed again, this time a little deeper, and for a moment they forgot what they had just planned. However, suddenly Charlie broke the kiss and said, "C'mon, get ready. I want to clear the air, at least with my family. They're important to me and I don't want to lie to them, even if I'm sure that I want to be with you and that I won't change my mind, whatever they say," he stated. "Besides, it would be pointless to try to pretend that there's nothing between us. Don knows about us, and I'm sure my dad, who's very perceptive, does too."

Colby nodded, a little preoccupied about Alan's response, and went to grab his jacket. Charlie did the same, and he also took his mother's picture with him, as well as his stuff.

"Leave those there," his lover said, pointing at the papers full of equations laying on the table. "You're going to be here again anyway I guess, so…"

Charlie took a deep breath, smiling, left the papers on the table and grabbed his bag. "Ok, I'll leave them here."

They got out of the apartment feeling a little dizzy after all the changes they had been through during the last hours, and they got into Colby's car. They giggled on the way to Charlie's house, they talked about the music on the radio and had fun just being with each other. Time passed by very quickly, and soon they arrived to their destination.

Parked in front of the Eppes' residence, which was still surrounded by "Police, do not cross" bands, Charlie took a deep breath, and he felt Colby's loving eyes on him. "I'm ok, I can do this," the mathematician reassured his lover one more time, and both of them got out of the car.

Colby was about to start walking towards the house, but Charlie stopped him and said, "Hey, maybe it would be better if I'd go in there by myself. Considering what Don said to me, I don't want him to get you into a fight."

"But…" Colby muttered, and then he nodded. "Ok, if you think that's the best thing to do."

"Well, I do. This is something I have to take care of myself. After all, it's my family."

There was moment in which Colby felt that maybe Charlie was a little ashamed to take him into his house now that he had different role in his life. Fortunately, Charlie read that doubt in his eyes, and he gently squeezed his lover's arm.

"Is it ok if I'd ask you to come to the house after I talk to my dad and Don?"

Colby lifted his gaze and immediately relaxed at the idea. "Sure."

They smiled to each other, and Charlie caressed his lover's arm again. Then he walked towards his still damaged house, his mother's picture inside his jacket.

Still a little worried about what might happen, Colby watched Charlie get into the residence. Suddenly, the neighborhood seemed so quiet that he knew that he would be able to hear any kind of fight between the people inside the house.

He rested on his car's door and crossed his arms. This was going to take a while, but if Charlie got in trouble, he would go in there and support him no matter what.

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_**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, 'CAUSE FEEDBACK IS LOVE. I'll try to respond all your comments because I really appreciate that you take the time to submit them. And if you comment, I will keep writing. :)**_


	22. The right to judge

**Title:** "The right to judge"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 22/23  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, Don, Alan  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary:** Don and Alan tell Charlie and Colby what they think of their relationship.

**Feedback:** Yes, please…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the original ideas and my OCs.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

_The Connections_ Series

**Part 22: "The right to judge"**

Two hours of deep thinking didn't give Don an answer about what to do about Charlie. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was still so very surprised about the news.

He just couldn't believe it. He didn't understand how everything had happened in front of his eyes. The memories of Charlie and Colby being together in the same room while Charlie talked about the way math could be applied to actual criminal cases overwhelmed Don too much. He wondered for how long Charlie and Colby had been into each other.

He knew that he still had his father's eyes on him. Alan was seated on a chair, reading the newspaper, very close to him. Don couldn't stand being there, knowing that Alan was worried about him and that he was probably expecting him to just accept that his brother had chosen a man as a partner.

But that was only one of the weird things that Don couldn't stop thinking about. The fact that Colby had turned out to be the person Charlie had wanted to be with had simply shocked him. The agent had always seemed to be so strong and normal, and now it had turned out that he was attracted to Don's little brother.

Charlie had replaced Amita for him. That had to be the reason why she and Charlie had their fight at the FBI. That had to be the reason why she wanted to leave to India. And it had to have been terrible for her having to be in the same room as both men the night before.

Thankfully, David would support her and give her advice. They had left the FBI together a couple of hours ago, and probably headed towards her apartment so she could rest for a while. It surely was going to take her a long time to recover from everything she had been through.

Feeling tired, Don sat beside his father. He ran his palms over his head and took a deep breath.

Alan, who was watching him closely, set down his newspaper and took off his glasses. He looked at Margaret's picture, which was next to him on another chair. He took it and muttered, "She would be happy."

"What?" Don asked, because he had been lost in his own thoughts.

"I said that she would be happy." Alan ran his fingers over the picture, and Don stared at the gesture in silence. "No matter what Charlie chose, as long as he'd be happy."

Again, Don took a deep breath. "I know."

It was time to have a serious talk. "Donnie, I don't know what's going on inside your head, but I do know that you truly love your brother."

"Of course I love him, Dad. The thing is that I don't understand him. And I remember what you said to me earlier, that I shouldn't want to get it all, but this is just… so shocking."

This time Alan remained in silence.

"And the fact that Colby likes him… I mean, I never noticed anything weird between them. I should have seen it, given that I'm Charlie's brother. I should have realized what was going on."

Don was devastated and he felt relieved when Alan put a hand on his shoulder. "But it's out. We all know about the fact that they like each other. Charlie and Colby are adults and they are free to do whatever they feel it's best for them. What can we do but deal with it and go on with our lives?"

Don stared at him, skeptical. "You seem so accepting. What about your beloved future grandchildren?"

"I've given up when it comes to Charlie. I want him to be happy, not to follow the desires of his father. I would never forgive myself if he would choose something just because of me."

Those words got to Don's head and heart. "I guess you're right. I always forget that Charlie's not that little anymore."

Alan smiled. "The same happens to me when I think about the two of you, boys," he said, but then he became serious one more time. "Think about it, Donnie. Would it be so bad if the person who could make Charlie happy was Colby? I mean, you know him. You know you can trust him. He served his country well. He's a good man."

Don listened to his father and started to consider the ideas. Alan was right about everything. Colby had proved to be a nice, honest, reliable person anyone could lean on.

"Charlie chose well, and it doesn't really matter if that person is a man or a woman," Alan concluded.

During the next moments, Don wondered if he had the right to judge Charlie. He had never made very good decisions when it came to his love life. The list of names of the women he had dated and separated from was overwhelming. He wasn't an authority in the relationships area, so he couldn't really know for sure if Charlie was doing the right thing or not.

Only one thing was certain. Charlie had never been so sure about anything before, not even when he still was Amita's boyfriend. And yet, now that he was interested in Colby, Charlie had stood up to Don and defended what he felt.

"Do you think that he and Colby will get along again? They didn't look very happy today," Don said, starting to relax at the idea of his brother starting to take control of his own feelings and his life.

"Of course. I mean, did you actually listen to your brother when you were both fighting? He was determined to not let Colby go. I'm sure he'll do anything that takes to get him back."

Now Don relaxed at Alan's smile, and, smiling himself, he put his hands on the back of his head, arching his back. "I hope Colby doesn't give him a hard time." He looked at his father with warm eyes.

Alan stared at him in amusement, his smile getting wider. He seemed to know that Don was finally ok with Charlie's decision, even if it hard been hard for him to accept it. He lovingly squeezed Don's shoulder.

And right then, Charlie stepped into the house. He stopped when he saw his father and Don talking and holding his mother's picture. "Hello…" he muttered, and he sounded a little too formal because he was there to discuss a very serious issue that had changed his whole life.

"Charlie," Alan muttered.

"I want to talk to you, Dad," Charlie said, "Alone."

Don slowly got up and went upstairs, but he hid so he could hear what Charlie was saying to his father and see what they were doing.

So then Charlie pulled out of his jacket the one photograph Colby wanted to restore. He sat where Don had been seconds ago, and showed the picture of Margaret to his father.

Alan simply took it and held both pictures together. "I was looking for this."

Charlie took a breath and said, "Um… Colby took it this morning."

"Ok, but why?"

"He wanted to restore it and give it back to us…, to me."

Alan looked at the picture Charlie had taken with him to the house, and he smiled. "That's nice."

"Yeah, I think it is." Charlie's voice was starting to tremble. "Dad, listen. There's something you have to know… although maybe you've already noticed it…"

"Yeah… you and Agent Granger."

Charlie nodded and waited for an answer.

"Charlie, it's ok. It's ok that Colby is the one you chose. And you shouldn't let anyone make you change your mind."

Charlie was crying. Things were going so well so far, after all the conflict that had taken over everybody's lives lately.

But still, he asked, "I know that, but what about Don? He doesn't understand."

"Yeah, and he'll probably never understand, but I know that he will support you. He loves you. He'll always be there for you."

"I don't know about that."

"Charlie…"

Suddenly, Don went downstairs and talked in serious tone of voice. "Charlie, could we talk for a moment?" He approached his brother. "Did you fix things with Colby?"

"Are you really interested in knowing that?" was Charlie's response. He still had tears in his eyes.

"Well, yeah… I'd like to know how it went."

"We got together again."

"Then-"

"Look, I don't want to hear it."

"What? You don't even know what I'm going to say!"

"No, I do know! I know that you're going to start making judgments, that you're going to say that you don't get me!"

"Charlie…" Alan muttered

Charlie shouted, "No, Dad, I need him to know that I will always care about what he says, but that he's not making me change my mind! Not this time, and not when it comes to what I have with Colby!"

"Charlie, stop, let me speak!" Don yelled back.

"Why? You're not getting me to leave Colby, you're not going to make me stop feeling what I feel!"

Without saying a word, Don went towards Charlie and held him tight. He said, "That's the last thing I want, Charlie. I don't want you to separate from Colby if that will make you miserable." Charlie didn't answer, so Don continued, "I'm so sorry, buddy. I didn't have the right to judge you. I didn't have the right to judge any of you."

"Don…" Charlie whispered, and he was crying again.

They were ok now. Their fight was definitely over.

But in that moment, Colby stepped into the house, looking very nervous and angry. He had obviously come with Charlie but had been waiting for him outside. There was a good chance that he had heard the fight that was going on inside the house, because Colby stood in front of Don and said with a firm tone, "Don, you have to understand that this is not just a thing! I care about Charlie and…"

"Everything's fine, Colby. He's ok about us," Charlie interrupted.

Colby's face turn into an expression of bemusement, and he stepped away from Don. "Oh… I didn't know that. Sorry…" It seemed that after yelling at his boss, he was afraid that there may be consequences.

Don patted his shoulder and said, "Hey, it's nothing. It's going to take me a while to get used to you two, but I promise that I will eventually. Is that good enough for you?"

"Yeah… I think it is," Colby responded, his cheeks turning red. "So… what do we do now?"

Don had taken a decision for everyone. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Of course, it's ok if you and Charlie want some time for yourselves…"

"I'd like Colby to stay," Charlie stated, looking at his lover with warm eyes.

That look made Colby blush and smile. "Yeah, ok, I'll stay."

Dinner was calm and natural, even if everybody knew that Don was still working on dealing with the situation. They ordered some pizzas and ate them while listening to soft jazz music on the radio.

Finally, it seemed that everything was going to be ok. Colby and Charlie sometimes looked at each other lovingly, while Don tried to adjust to seeing them together in such a weird but perfect way.

"Would you like another piece of pizza?" Alan asked Colby over and over, and then he started saying that maybe they should order more.

"No, thank you. I think I'm fine," Colby repeated to every question. Every time he spoke, he giggled, and Charlie did it too, like he was his mirror.

Don offered to go buy some beers because the ones they had at the house were not enough, and when he came back, he saw that Colby was alone, seated at the table.

"Where's everybody?" Don asked.

"Charlie's in the bathroom, and your father didn't let me help him with the dishes, so… here I am, waiting for someone to tell me to do something so I don't look like the laziest person in the world."

That was a funny thing to say. Colby seemed to be very nervous and he kept moving his foot, as if trying to find a way to make the awkwardness he felt go away. Don sat beside him and muttered, "Well, you've got the picture restoring."

"What?"

"Our mother's picture, you've got to restore it. It means a lot for us. It's a nice gesture for Charlie, and for the whole family, considering the mess that took place here. Besides, you already promised that to my brother, so you're responsible to not letting him down on that one."

Colby stared at Don, but then he responded, "Yeah, I know that. I'll still keep my promise of restoring the photograph."

Don started to take the beers out of the bags he had taken with him, and he offered one to his agent with a smile on his face. "Thanks for that. I mean it."

Colby smiled back and they both drank their beers slowly. But then Colby's cell phone rang. "Granger."

Don watched him closely when he noticed that Colby had gotten suddenly worried.

"Megan, what's going on?" Colby was saying, his eyes fixed on the beer he was holding with his other hand. "That's weird. Yeah, I saw him leave with Amita a couple of hours ago. I'll take care of that, don't worry." He hung up and ran a hand over his face.

"What happened?" Don wanted to know.

"Megan needs to talk to David about how to help Amita, but he's not answering his phone. It's nothing serious, but still, it's weird. Maybe I should check that everything's ok."

"Would you like me to take care of that, so you can stay here with Charlie and my Dad?"

Colby immediately shook his head. "Nah… David's my friend, I can handle this. Dinner is over anyway, so I should get going."

"You're leaving?" Charlie's voice said. He was getting into the room and he seemed a little sad.

"I have to find David. He's with Amita but he's not answering his phone. I'm going to see how he's doing."

The way Charlie looked at Colby made Don shiver. He was so different than when he was with Amita. "I see. Would you mind if I'd ask you to meet me later?" the mathematician said, putting a hand on Colby's shoulder. Suddenly Don realized that the most difficult part for him would be actually seeing the two lovers being affectionate with each other.

"Um… Yeah, I guess we could meet later," Colby muttered.

"Great. I'll walk you to the door… or the area of the house that used to have a door," Charlie suggested.

In a few seconds, Colby had said goodbye to Alan and Don, and he was getting into his car. From the front door, Don could see Charlie leaning over the car's door, cupping his lover's face and approaching it to kiss it.

Yet, Colby seemed to be asking Charlie to stop, given the fact that Don was looking at them. That seemed obvious when Charlie took a look at his brother standing at the front door and immediately retreated.

Charlie stepped away from the car, still talking to Colby. "Will you let me know how Amita is?"

"Sure," Colby answered.

"Bye, see you later." Charlie waved his hand at his lover and when the car got into the streets, he went towards the house.

When Charlie walked beside him, Don smiled to him. His brother smiled back, and got into the residence again.

And when Don returned to his house, he didn't care about the fact that a grenade had blown up part of it. He didn't even care that he and his family would have to restore Margaret's photographs. Colby was going to help them to do it, and he was also going to help Charlie to start a new life.

So what if Don didn't have the construction anymore. To be at home meant to be cared and loved by others, and he was glad that he could make Charlie feel that after their fight, even if he still wasn't very comfortable with the way things had gone.

Don had made Charlie feel at home again, and that was all that mattered.

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_**A/N: FEEDBACK IS LOVE.**_


	23. No matter what

**Title:** "No matter what"  
**Series**: _The Connections_ Series, part 23/23 (last chapter of this series)  
**Characters:** Charlie/Colby, David, Don, Alan  
**Rating:** M  
**Spoilers:** None.  
**Summary: **A new journey is about to start for the boys.

**Feedback:** Yes, please…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Numb3rs or anything related to it, but I do own the original ideas and my OCs.  
**Beta:**_Thanks to my amazing beta._

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_The Connections_ Series

**Part 23: "No matter what"**

When Colby arrived at Amita's apartment, no one answered. Luckily, an old lady let him know that she had talked to David earlier and that he had gone to the airport looking for Amita.

It was hard to find David in the middle of the crowd that was waiting for the flight. But still, Colby was able to get to him.

David was looking through one of the giant windows. His eyes were fixed in a plane that was getting smaller at every second.

"David."

It took Colby's friend a few seconds to come back to reality. However, he didn't look at his partner. He stared at his shoes, with his arms hanging on each side of his slumped body.

"Hey man, are you ok?" Colby asked, putting a hand on David's shoulder. But David jumped and stepped aside very quickly. "David, you're shaking. What happened?"

Colby was definitely worried now. His friend had never looked so fragile, so nervous, so apathetic. "Where's Amita?"

"She left."

At least David was talking. "She _left_? She's been through a traumatic experience, she was supposed to get some help from Megan, or a therapist, or something!"

"I think that'd be useless," David muttered.

"What did you just say?" Colby had to ask.

The other man lifted his gaze and shaking his head, whispered a little, "Nothing, I said nothing." David took a deep breath and ran his hands over the back of his head. "I'm just worried about her, that's all. Why are you here?"

"Megan was looking for you and Amita, she wanted to talk about a program for her to recover from everything that's happened lately. You weren't answering your phone."

"Oh… I may have not noticed her calls…" David didn't pull out his cell phone to check if he had any missing calls. It was like he was talking just for talk, and it seemed that he wasn't going to tell Colby what had happened inside Amita's apartment? "Let's go see Megan," he suggested, and he mixed into the crowd, leaving Colby speechless until he decided to follow him.

They both had their cars outside the airport. David was about to get into his, when Colby leaned in the open window.

Colby asked, "Why did you let Amita get onto that plane? When I saw you leave with her, I thought you were going to look after her, try to make her feel better at least for a while."

David still seemed to be reluctant to talk. "Could we talk about this later? I'm not feeling good."

"I know. You look like crap, man. Maybe you should rest for a while."

"Yeah… Maybe it would be better if I'd go home."

"Ok… See you later."

David nodded and turned on the engine. He left Colby standing at the side of the street, looking worried and curious about what had happened when he and Amita were together.

The fact that she had left the country was weird for Colby. She was supposed to get help, but she had decided to follow her original plans of going back to India after Charlie had broken up with her.

Maybe Amita needed to return to what she'd known as a child to get things back on track. Maybe that was the only thing that could cure her heart after all the changes that her life had suffered during the last days.

But the strangest thing was David's behavior. Indeed, he looked like he was going to get sick soon, so some rest would be good. Yet, his silence about why he had left Amita get into that plane was somehow disturbing.

A phone call caused Colby to lose his train of thought. When he answered, Charlie's voice on the other side of the line made him remember that he had agreed to meet him later. "Hi, Charlie."

"Hi. Is David ok?"

"Um, I don't know. He doesn't look any good, but he's taking a few hours off. And Amita… she's on a plane to India."

"What? Is that a joke? The FBI was supposed to assign her a therapist!" Charlie snapped, and he looked completely surprised and preoccupied.

"That's exactly what I told David."

"Wasn't he with Amita?"

"Yeah, but she still managed to leave. I don't know what happened. David just doesn't want to talk about it right now, but I guess that at some point he'll tell us," Colby explained, while he got into his car.

"That's so weird."

"Yeah well, at least she already made her statement with regard to Patrick Garner." Right after saying that, Colby decided to change the subject and think only about himself and Charlie for a while. "Hey, by the way, when and where do you want us to meet?"

"Mmm…" Charlie was thoughtful for a moment. "You just pick me up and I'll tell you then."

Colby laughed, and muttered, "Fine, I'll be there in fifteen minutes, Mr. Mystery."

The mystery of the unknown location made the agent hurry to get to the Eppes' residence in twenty minutes. He entered the house and found his lover and his lover's family smiling and talking at the table.

"Hi, sorry I'm earlier than I said I would…" Colby apologized, but immediately Charlie got up and took his bag, which was on a chair.

"I was ready five minutes ago, so don't worry. Bye, guys," Charlie waved a hand to Don and Alan, who nodded and continued talking between them.

Once inside Colby's car, there was a question that needed to be asked. "So, where are we going?" the agent asked, the vehicle starting to move.

"We're going to the place where all of this started," Charlie answered, "Do you remember where it was?"

Of course Colby remembered it. He smiled and nodded, and headed towards it. The night had come, and it would take them about thirty minutes to get there, given the heavy traffic.

When they arrived to their destination, there already were some stars and the moon high in the sky. The quiet parking garage where they had shared their conversation during the Bonnie Parks case, the place where Charlie had confessed his feelings to Colby .

Even if it looked very different at night, somehow there were memories everywhere. The noises of the city reached their ears, and the soft wind caressed their skin.

And Charlie started talking. "Even though I'm worried about Amita, to some extent I'm glad she's not around anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean… seeing her at CalSci or at home if she decided to keep visiting my family would have been awkward, and the truth is that I don't want to feel awkward. Not when I know that this is the right thing to do," Charlie stated, watching the bright lights of the distant city. "Being with you is what I really want," he continued.

Colby simply looked at the car, feeling overwhelmed by his lover's faith on what they had. That confident side of Charlie had the ability to surprise him every time since he had discovered it a few hours ago.

Then he felt Charlie's hand caressing his neck, and his lover's body getting closer to his own.

"Do you know that? Do you know that I'm all in?"

Charlie stood very near to him and looked into his eyes. Colby said, "Yeah… I know that."

"I want to see what could come up from this, I'm willing to take the risk to start something with you, even if I've never experienced anything like what we have. I want to do it no matter what anyone says. I want to try, no matter what."

After those sweet, honest words, Colby couldn't say anything. He just stared at Charlie, not being able to put in words how wonderful and loved he felt.

"Do you understand what I'm saying? Are you willing to take that chance with me?"

Now Colby slowly nodded, not taking his eyes off Charlie. But he closed them when his lover cupped his face and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. When he broke the kiss, he remained like that, enjoying the sensation of joy and the deepness of the connection they shared. And he kept listening to Charlie's voice, starting to get far.

"I made a reservation for a quiet dinner in a nice restaurant. Of course, it would be just the two of us."

Colby was lost in that voice filling his every thought, and didn't respond to what Charlie had announced.

"Colby, are you coming with me?"

When the agent opened his eyes, he saw Charlie offering him an open hand. The moonlight highlighted the curves of his smiling face and the lines of his fingers.

They remained without moving for a second. Charlie watched his lover stare at his hand. He also saw him smile tenderly.

Colby walked towards Charlie, and they held each other's hands tightly.

Nothing more needed to be said. They were about to start a new journey together.

_Together._

**THE END OF "THE CONNECTIONS SERIES"**

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_**A/N: FEEDBACK IS LOVE.**_

_**Thanks to every single reader. This wouldn't have been possible without you. **__****_


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